Back to Good
by Kyre
Summary: ML What if S2 was an illusion? My way of putting things right. No virus, no Familiars, no destiny, and Lydecker never left. NOW COMPLETE. Edited 112006 only to add a citation.
1. Chapter 1

_*** NOTE (6/29/02): Chapters 1-5 and their author's notes were written previous to the show's cancelation. ***_

**RATING:** PG-13 for some eventual language and violence. Hey, it is DA after all.  
**TITLE CREDIT:** matchbox 20. Don't bother looking up the lyrics, because they aren't relevant. Only the title is.  
**SPOILERS:** Designate This, although some elements from later episodes may slip in, such as Logan's post-AJBAC reaction as revealed in Borrowed Time.

Thanks to **Moonshadow** for inspiring me to write this fic. I hope I do the idea justice.

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Like many people, I'm not happy with the way this season has gone, and I've been looking for ways to salvage it. Recently I recalled a conversation we had on the Eye Contact thread of Fan Forum's Dark Angel board over the summer. A poster by the screen name of Broken Jack had suggested that due to Manticore's ability to mess with people's minds (think Zack seeing Max at the beginning of The Kidz are Aiight), we might not be able to trust anything that happened this season. When I saw Designate This for the first time, I saw Max sit up gasping after being injected and I immediately suspected that might be the point where Broken Jack was right. Upon a second viewing of the ep and ever since, I've been convinced it was real, but now I would _love_ it if it turned out it wasn't. If the show's Powers That Be decide to go this route, they will win back my respect, and I will be a happy girl.

The first chapter or two will be pretty emotional, because the setting demands it. However, I promise other chapters will have actual dialogue and action. I have a whole scenario set up. If I do this right, Max/Logan and Lydecker fans will be very happy. Let me know whether I succeed.

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"Do not attempt to adjust your set. This is a streaming freedom video bulletin. The cable hack will last exactly sixty seconds. It cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped, and it is the only free voice left in this city. Since the early 1990s, billions of your tax dollars have been diverted from legitimate government programs to fund secret experiments in genetic engineering. This covert operation is known as Project Manticore. Its goal: to create the perfect soldier, genetically enhanced for superior strength and speed. These children are subjected to relentless training and propaganda. In the winter of 2009, twelve of them escaped from a facility in Gillette, Wyoming. Some of them were captured; some of them were tortured; some gave their lives fighting to stay free. Since these cable hacks began, Manticore has consolidated its operations to a secret location. Eyes Only will find it, and the people responsible for these crimes will be brought to justice. This has been a streaming freedom video bulletin."

Logan shut off the camera with a sigh. He'd find it, all right. It had taken him all summer, but he was finally confident enough in his proximity to the truth that he was able to take Manticore public. Putting the heat on them was bound to work in his favor; they would get nervous, and they would make mistakes. And he'd be right there to pounce.

They were not going to get away with this. He owed it to Max to see to that.

She may have been gone, but she was always with him. She was on his mind as he worked. She looked over his shoulder as he cooked. And most of all, she beat in his heart as he lay awake at night. If he tried hard enough, closed his eyes, he could feel her weight on his chest, in bed with him where she belonged. He would smile, and open his eyes to look into hers. But only darkness and empty space greeted him, and once again he was rudely awakened to the fact that they had taken her away before she'd ever made it there. It never got any easier.

He was reminded every day of the time he'd had with her. His dress shoes in the closet made him think of her red dress, and all the efforts she had gone to that night to understand his family and save her boss' life. Tucked away in a guest-room drawer was the black turtleneck and black jacket she had left there after their trip to Cape Haven, when she had trusted him to keep her safe. Every day when Logan looked out his window, he found himself looking down at the rooftop where she had landed after jumping through his window, so long ago. She had glanced back up at him, then. She could have just taken off running...but she had stopped for a moment to watch him. Sometimes now he swore he could still feel her watching him.

That was the funny thing. He still felt her. By rights Logan should have been grieving her death and moving on, but he had never even tried, because he'd always had a feeling she was still out there somewhere. He couldn't explain it, and of course he didn't know where she was. After three months Logan had stopped telling people about this feeling, aware how crazy it sounded. Besides, what mattered most was that she wasn't here with him. She wasn't here to share wine with him. She wasn't here to play chess with him. She wasn't here to rave over his garlic chicken. He ate alone now.

He kept the candlesticks out on the table, unlit. So many times she had come for dinner, and he had spent the meal watching her eyes dancing behind the flames. Logan had always been amazed that eyes that had seen such pain were so bright and so alive. What better way to defy her tormentors than to enjoy the life they had denied her?

She had never managed to flee them completely. Always there were people chasing her on the streets. Always there were the bad memories she tried to leave behind. Always there were the seizures. And he would never forget the night she opened her heart to him, laying bare her transgressions and letting him see how much Manticore hurt her.

How could he forget? That evening had been their last peaceful moment together.

For the better part of a year, Logan had been unable to bring himself to show her how he felt. His father's indoctrination, his failed marriage, his paralysis all lurked in his brain, and so he held back. For months he wasted every chance he had to tell her that no matter what her past did to her, she was loved.

Now he was out of chances; Max was gone. All he could do was remember. As Logan touched her picture for the millionth time, he wished it were the soft curve of her cheek he was touching instead of a computer screen. Oh, the things he would do differently.

Logan had learned one lesson, at least. He had to take opportunities when they came to him. And while it was too late to do that with the woman he loved, now was the time for him to do it to Manticore. He would take this chance to hunt those criminals down.

For Max.


	2. Chapter 2

**RATING:** PG-13  
**SPOILERS:** Designate This

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** I'm going to try to post a new chapter every few days. It's not necessarily going to be the same number of days each time, though, and the length of each chapter may vary as well. It all depends on my mood as I write. :) Don't worry, though--there is lots to come.

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Max lay on her bunk that night, waiting for the guard to go by so she could get digging. Another day of training had passed. While she hated the guns she was forced to carry, the hours spent on the treadmill, and the exercises in the yard, at least they were keeping her body strong. For all Max knew, she would need that extra strength when she finally made her escape. She wasn't sure what conditions she would run into.

So she did what she had to do. She followed the training regimen, looking at it as "brushing up on her skills" in order not to resent every minute of it. It was easy enough to deal with. Not pleasant, but easy.

Less easy was the psychological attack Renfro kept lobbying at her. From the very first day, Renfro had started finding Max's buttons and taking great glee in pushing them. First Renfro had tried to take away her identity by taking away her name...

"State your designation."

"My name's Max!"

"State your designation."

"Kiss my transgenic ass!"

"How long can an X5 survive without food or water?"

"Six days, maybe."

"Call me in a week."

Eventually Max had decided to concentrate on more important matters and start using her designation whenever talking to Renfro. She refused to use it any other time, though. Much as Renfro would like otherwise, Max was still Max, and she wouldn't ever deny that.

And Renfro knew it. That's why she took the small victory and moved on to other buttons. Today she had found two big ones and stomped on them as hard as she could.

Today Renfro had showed Max that Zack was alive and he was a prisoner. He was even more of a prisoner than Max was, because Manticore was feeding off his body. In a strange way she'd been reminded of Prometheus when she'd seen Zack strapped down and hooked up to tubes. Those vultures were taking his organs, one by one. She wasn't sure whether he was healing the way Prometheus did, but after that slug to the head and after all the removals, he _was_ still alive. Max wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not. Was he still Zack inside? And even if he was...Renfro said he was being moved to another facility, that they had plans for him. Max shuddered to think what those plans might be.

Not content to hit Max where it hurt, Renfro had then gone for the jugular.

"Eyes Only. Now, I know you've had some kind of relationship with him, and I know you're hanging onto the idea that you're going to see him again, but that's not gonna happen. He thinks you're dead. That's why he's been causing so much trouble for us. So we're gonna find him..."

"You'll never find him."

"...and we're gonna kill him."

Max's heart had jumped into her throat. She hadn't breathed a word about Logan or Eyes Only in all the time she had been there. Not even by accident--she'd heard the lab techs muttering that all the sodium pentathol they'd given her never seemed to work. So how did Renfro know Max was involved with Eyes Only? Did she know it was Logan?

Dear God, Max hoped not. She didn't know what she would do if they succeeded in killing him. Renfro could be right...that could be all it would take to make Max give in. Thinking of Logan was the only thing that kept her sane. Logan had shown her more in one year than she had ever learned in ten what it meant to be human. He had seen her true self before she was ever completely aware of it. He had accepted her. And she was pretty sure he loved her. 

Trapped in a place that forbade love, in fact preyed upon it, Max still loved Logan with all her heart. She never felt more alive than when she was around him. Losing Logan would be the one thing she couldn't handle.

Well, she wasn't going to give Renfro the satisfaction. She wasn't going to let her kill Logan, and she wasn't going to let Renfro see her worry about it. After a day of getting her heart pummeled, she put up walls around it and concentrated on the brick waiting for her under her bunk.


	3. Chapter 3

**RATING: ** PG-13  
**SPOILERS: ** Designate This

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: ** Sorry the last chapter was pretty short. This one is longer. Like I said before, no guarantees that chapter lengths will be consistent. I blame my muse.

Thanks to **willow** for pointing out some confusing sections of this chapter and helping me make them clearer.

I'm working under the assumption that Manticore's building in Gillette was not its only facility, or at least not its only office. I base this on several lines we've seen from the show, namely in Cold Comfort, AJBAC, and DT. If you want the specific lines, email me and I'll be happy to quote them for you.

I had to fudge a little in this chapter. As I've planned this fic, I've discovered all sorts of inconsistencies in the show that I never noticed before, and I have to figure out how to resolve them. When Logan makes his hack at the beginning of Designate This, it's apparent that it's the first Manticore hack he's ever made--but in it, he says Manticore consolidated "since these cable hacks began." After much thought, I chose to believe the former is true and not the latter. Hope you don't mind.

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"Will that be all, sir?"

"That's all."

Donald Lydecker took the coffee the clerk handed him, paid for it, and headed back out to his SUV. Three months later and this diner's coffee was still just as bitter as it ever was. Beggars couldn't be choosers, though--after all, he was in hiding and coffee was hard to come by these days. So he gulped it down as he thought about his next move.

He'd only just arrived back in town days before. True to form, he had prepared for resistance and difficulty reentering the city, but there had been surprisingly little. Renfro must have decided he was more valuable alive than dead, what with Eyes Only taking Manticore public. Lydecker knew Manticore's location. Renfro knew he knew. It was only a matter of time before she would try again to contact him. This time, he would let her.

Lydecker pulled out his cell phone and looked at the numbers on the list. While he had been planning to get Eyes Only's cooperation, he hadn't expected him to expose Manticore's existence quite so soon. Still, it wasn't necessarily disadvantageous. Making Renfro nervous and the Committee skittish were part of Lydecker's plan, after all, and he would enjoy watching them squirm.

Somehow he knew Logan Cale would too.

Lydecker had thought about Max all summer; he could only imagine what it was like for the man who was in love with her. Apparently Logan was just as consumed now as he was three months ago. Why else would he go after Manticore? They could cause him more trouble than he would ever know. His very life was in danger, wounding the animal before he was ready to kill it, and yet there were his eyes on TV. The man was driven.

Not that Lydecker could really blame him. He remembered the way he had felt about his wife when she was alive and the spiral he had taken after her murder. It had taken him a few years to get his head on straight and funnel his pent-up frustrated energy into something useful. Max had been one result of those efforts, and now Logan had lost her. Lydecker had to admire Logan's productivity only a few months later.

And now it was time to use that to his advantage. Lydecker scrolled down his phone's list of numbers, selected one, and dialed. He got a machine in response.

"No one's around. Leave a message."

Lydecker had really been hoping to talk to the man live, but this would do. "It's Lydecker. I see that you're...looking for Manticore's new location. I have some information you might find useful. I'll be in touch."

***********************************

Logan stared at the machine. Lydecker was calling him? Where the hell had _he_ been all summer? Logan sure could have used him sooner to find Manticore. He'd figured Lydecker had gone to ground--after all, Max had said his boss wanted him dead in a big way--but somehow he was calling Logan _now_. Why couldn't he have called before?

Well, Logan would have to think about that later. Right now he was ready to chase down a lead.

If Manticore had stayed put in their Gillette location, it would be easy to expose them. He knew where that building was. Even if Max had never mentioned its location during their year together...even if he had never done research for their _quid pro quo_...he would always remember that awful night he had spent outside it three months ago. The problem was, Manticore had consolidated all their facilities into a secret location shortly after the raid, and he had no idea where to look for it.

As a result, he was concentrating most of his efforts on the Gillette area, figuring even a secret government agency would leave a trail somewhere. After checking records of every type--personnel, architectural, financial--of every large operation in the vicinity, he'd run across a V.A. hospital that was suspiciously well-funded. V.A. installations weren't given much attention after the Pulse, and Gillette didn't have an official military base. There was no reason for this hospital to have the money it did.

The hospital's finances dropped off sharply in early June--shortly after the raid on Manticore. Logan was positive that extra money had been going to Manticore instead of the hospital. And he figured that if Manticore's Gillette facility had been tied to V.A. financial records, he'd be willing to bet its branch facilities had been too--and so might its new location. What he needed now was something more concrete than just intuition.

Logan had tried to hack into the records of the V.A.'s Seattle office, but there wasn't much there. Either its records were mostly paper-based, or not every record was being kept that should have been. Logan actually suspected both; the Pulse had caused many places to start from scratch with paper records, and one of his basketball teammates had always complained about the difficulty in securing his checks at that office.

A year ago he would have thrown himself into righting that wrong. But now, somehow, it didn't seem as important that he do it himself. Finding Manticore was his priority now. Logan would go down to the V.A. office and follow its paper trail, and the S1W would be only too happy to take care of the office's corruption, if that was the reason for the database's holes.

As he looked through his closet, Logan dialed his cell phone. "Asha?"

"Yeah. Hey, Logan."

"Hey. Listen, Eyes Only and I need the S1W to do us a favor. A lot of vets will thank you too."

"I'm listening."

He told Asha about the plan, and they agreed to meet in an hour to put it into action. After hanging up, Logan changed clothes, putting on the exoskeleton along the way. Then he sat down in his wheelchair, trying not to think about the last time he had walked over to it. He didn't succeed, of course. Memories of their anniversary came flooding back.

Everything he did reminded Logan of Max. Even the camo vest he was wearing now made him think about the fatigues Max had been wearing the night of the raid.

_Good way to remind myself why I'm doing this today, _he thought to himself. _As if I could forget._


	4. Chapter 4

**RATING:** PG-13  
**SPOILERS:** Designate This

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Sorry I took so long to put up this chapter. Sadly, I think it's the beginning of a trend. I write the transcripts for darkangelfan.com, and now that new eps have started back up again, I don't have nearly as much writing time as I did during this long preemption. Fear not, though: I have no intention of letting this story drop. I will add to it as often as I can.

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Renfro didn't know it, but Max's thoughts weren't on the training.

It didn't matter how many yards Max had to crawl with a gun burning in her hands. She was always crawling home. If she tried hard enough, she could see Logan, Original Cindy, and even Normal standing at the edge of the field. Funny how an uptight boss could be such an incentive all of a sudden. Max could almost hear the bips.

Sometimes, while she ran the treadmill, she imagined what her friends were doing right then. Kendra was probably teaching a Japanese class while Walter the cop smiled over her shoulder. _Took me a long time to get used to _that_ relationship,_ she thought with a mental smile. She would have to hurry up and get out of here so she could go hang at their place again.

Sketchy...Sketchy was probably down at the skate park, showing off a new trick for some girl. Maybe he was even carrying on a conversation with Herbal at the same time.

"I could use some money."

"Same with I and I. But, you know, Jah will provide."

"Hopefully my future plans will pan out. In the meantime, I'm really needing a new bike."

"You know...just because you haven't landed a nose manual all day..."

Max never knew she could make up so many conversations in her head. She had done it all the time as a kid, imagining what people outside the walls did as they went about their business, but that had been pure curiosity. This was survival. She was clinging to her own life, her memories, and her presence of mind. These imaginary conversations helped, because it made her feel like she was still in that world, still part of the outside, soaking up her friends' interplay. Besides, it was a hell of a lot more entertaining than watching the lab techs note her test data as she ran.

Maybe Original Cindy had a girl by now. Diamond's death had affected her deeply, but she was a resilient woman, and Max was sure OC was back to checking out the lickety chicks. She couldn't wait to get home and see who had her boo's heart.

Max definitely hoped _somebody_ was there to keep her company. The last time they had seen each other was the night Max and Logan had celebrated their anniversary. Most days Max wondered who had told Original Cindy the news, and how she had taken it. That was one thing Max didn't spend much time imagining in detail, though. It was painful, and she preferred to spend more time on pleasant memories. They were more likely to get her through the long days of training and torture.

As Max's treadmill time came to an end, her mind went once again to Logan. What was _he_ doing right now?

****

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Shuffling the papers in his hand, Logan stared hard at the one on top. It took him a second to register that Asha was addressing him. "You really thought you were gonna get into the file room pretending to be a vet?"

"I took a shot."

"So did I."

That brought a chuckle to his lips. As he thanked her for her help at the V.A. office, Logan returned his attention to the paper in front of him. He didn't even hear whatever Asha said in response, instead commenting that he must be looking at the records for Manticore's Wyoming facility.

"Think they're running their budget through the V.A.'s books? Trying to cover their tracks?"

"If I can follow the money, maybe I can find out where the main facility is." God, he hoped so. He kept staring at the page, mind wandering, until the letters blurred before his eyes. Logan could feel himself getting closer. Manticore was out there somewhere, and finally he was making some progress toward finding it. This was just a baby step, but with luck it would lead to something more substantial. He was going to find those bastards if it was the last thing he did.

Once again, Asha's voice barely registered in his brain, and he answered on autopilot. It wasn't until her next sentence that he tore his eyes away from the proof in front of him. "I've just never seen you get so caught up in an assignment before."

He _was_ caught up in it. It consumed him, day and night, and somehow he couldn't bear to let her think it was just a task to him. "It's not an assignment. Eyes Only is taking on Manticore as a favor to me."

"You're messing with some powerful people. They play rough."

"I don't care what happens to me." And he didn't. He knew what Manticore was capable of--a year spent with Max ensured that--but he wasn't about to let that possibility stop him. He was on a mission. Once upon a time Max had called him on his drive, saying he was obsessed and that he cared more about strangers than about her. He'd learned his lesson then, but now the lines were blurred. He was going after strangers_ because_ of her. Now she was the reason he was obsessed. Max had been torn away from him, and all he cared about was hunting down her captors.

It didn't matter if they killed him. Max mattered more.

"Said in his hack some of those kids escaped back in '09. You knew one of them, didn't you?"

Logan wasn't sure how Asha knew that, but somehow it was a relief that someone else knew. He'd kept Max's identity to himself for so long, unable to tell even his friends the true extent of the unjustness of her absence, because of the Manticore secret. Now that Eyes Only had revealed its existence, Logan found himself willing to share a little. "Her name was Max."

"They killed her, didn't they?"

"I watched her die." The words he'd been uttering for the past few months sounded hollow to his ears. He felt the urge to tell Asha the truth. "The thing is, I can't really believe she's gone. I _don't_ believe it. I know it sounds crazy, but I feel like...she's still out there."

Asha was silent for a minute, watching him. "_That's_ why you're doing this."

"Hmm?"

She smiled, as if it were all so obvious now. "You're getting Eyes Only to help you find Manticore because you want to find Max. This isn't about revenge, or justice. You want her back."

Logan thought about what Asha said. He did desperately want Max back. She had been the brightest spot in his life during that year. Toward the end he hadn't been able to get her out of his head, and had realized that he didn't want to. Now every day he missed her company, her laugh, her sarcasm. If there was the slightest chance she was still out there, he realized, he wasn't going to rest until he found out where.

Maybe Asha was right. Maybe he was seeking the dark eyes that haunted him, rather than justice for Manticore. Either way, the mission was still the same. He had to find that facility.

Next time Lydecker called, Logan was going to get some answers.


	5. Chapter 5

**RATING:** PG-13  
**SPOILERS:** Designate This. The tone of the phone call here probably came from Bag 'em and Proof of Purchase, but nothing about those episodes is really given away.

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Thanks to a brief break in the string of new episodes, I've been able to write this chapter. I tweaked a couple of parts after posting it, and I think it all works better now. Hope you like it. 

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Later that night, Logan smelled something odd and lifted his head to take a critical look around his apartment. He spent most of his time these days looking for Manticore, sifting through papers and digging through information. He paid less attention than ever to his surroundings, and it was starting to show. While the dishwasher was full of clean dishes, the unrinsed pans were piled in the sink and were probably the source of the smell. The laundry, though washed, lay unfolded in a heap on the training table. He didn't even want to think about the mold colonies threatening to jump him every time he entered the bathroom.

Logan found himself wishing Bling were around to take care of that so he could concentrate on his mission. He'd let him go months earlier. He certainly didn't have the concentration necessary for Bling's demanding exercise routines; he exercised, but he was always deep in thought at the time. More than once he'd jolted out of his thoughts to discover that he had stalled, facing the ceiling in mid-situp or holding a dumbbell in midair, without even realizing it. It wasn't fair to ask for Bling's best effort when Logan wasn't giving his own. Besides, the exoskeleton was doing a pretty good job of keeping him flexible, and he was really starting to feel the economic pinch brought on by the seizure of Cale Industries. He'd already sold quite a bit of art, and the place was starting to look a little sterile for it.

Sterile, that is, except for the newspaper clippings taped on the wall beside his computer, and of course for the increasing signs that someone was living there and not doing the housework. For a minute, Logan pondered how valuable a piece of art it would be worth selling to hire Bling to come over and relieve him of that duty. It wouldn't be right, though. The chores Bling had done for Logan in the past had been as part of a package deal. Bling was a PT, not a housekeeper, and Logan couldn't deprive the world of Bling's services just to get out of doing the dishes. Making a mental note to give his friend a call sometime, Logan wheeled over to the sink and began moving its contents to the counter so he could run the water.

Due to the clanging of pans as he did so, he almost didn't hear the phone ringing. He rushed over to the credenza and picked up the cordless, smearing a little day-old marinara sauce on it to match the smudges on his rims in the process. "Yeah."

"It's Lydecker."

Logan sucked in his breath. Here was his chance to get some information. Still, he couldn't keep the snippiness out of his voice as he spoke. "Didn't expect to hear from you."

"Surprise."

"Well, it's not like I've been looking for your old employers or anything."

"I'm sure you can imagine I've been busy making sure they don't find me." Logan couldn't decide whether he heard a mental smirk in the man's voice, as he thought he had so long ago in the van, before the raid. Eventually even that memory had become unclear. Lydecker was hard to read. "Saw your broadcast today. It'll probably make Renfro nervous."

"That supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing?"

"I'm not complaining."

As he listened, Logan idly noticed the sauce on his right hand and wiped it on the dishtowel he had thrown over his shoulder, then switched the phone to his right hand so he could wipe his left. "You said you had something."

"Manticore produces soldiers that are very valuable. It goes to a lot of trouble to protect them. Nothing happens to the program without a contingency plan being in place."

"And you know the plan." Logan tried hard to ignore the shudders of indignation that passed over him when he heard Lydecker mention "protecting" the X5s. Torture was hardly protection. Destroying the innocence of young boys and girls was hardly protecting them. Through his efforts as Eyes Only, Logan had protected vastly more people than Lydecker ever had, or at least he hoped so. _Focus,_ he told himself. _He means they protected their investment and their project. Now pay attention to what the man is saying._

"I know most of them. I'm pretty sure I know which one they resorted to when the DNA lab blew. If things haven't changed, which it doesn't look like they have, I can tell you their probable location."

"You were also pretty sure Manticore would die when the DNA lab blew."

"That was before the--" Logan heard a series of clicks on the other end of the line, and Lydecker paused before speaking again. "That's another call I'm expecting. I'll be in touch."

"You're just gonna drop it without telling me? Just like that?" Logan silently berated himself for having deflected Lydecker's attention away from Manticore's location. He had been so close; all he'd had to do was say "Which is...?" and he might have it by now. Instead he had been too busy getting snippy again, and now Lydecker was cutting him off.

"This has priority. I'll give you Manticore's location soon. You have my word." _Click._

His word. Somehow that didn't reassure Logan very much.


	6. Chapter 6

**RATING:** PG-13  
**SPOILERS:** Designate This

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Well...I'm back. The show is over, but my attachment to it is not, and I'll be reading and writing DA fic for a good long while. These characters are still in my head all the time anyway. :)

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Lydecker spoke briefly with his contact on the other call, who confirmed that the infusion of soldiers from Project Gemini had proceeded that day as planned. This meant the reproduction program would start that night.

"You know I still don't like this," Lydecker told him. "The genetic consequences are unpredictable."

"I'm with you on this," Andrews responded. "But I can't say I'm surprised it's gone in this direction. The elimination of the Gillette lab provided the perfect incentive."

_Don't remind me,_ Lydecker thought. _If I'd known about Gemini then, I would've waited._ "I take it Renfro is overseeing the program herself?"

"You got it."

_Even more reason to dislike it_. Lydecker did his best to keep personal feelings from affecting his operations--hadn't he taught his kids as much?--but he wasn't invulnerable to negative emotions. Renfro rubbed him the wrong way. He had disliked her before she'd become Director, and even more when she had taken over and wrapped the Committee around her little finger. Now that she had screwed around with the project to which he had given years of his life and most of his heart, he constantly found himself looking forward to the day of her downfall.

Well, if all went smoothly, that would come soon enough. But the plan was more important.

"Thanks for the information," he told Andrews, and hung up.

***********************************

It was going to be another long night. As soon as the guard passed by, Max was going to start digging again, and with only that little bedslat to use, it would be slow going as usual. She was almost ready to give her right arm for a real tool.

The guard was late. Highly unusual for a place as regimented as Manticore, but it had happened before. Max's cell was isolated from the barracks, as she was on special lockdown, and the guard had to walk a longer distance to get there. While she waited, Max found her thoughts going to Logan again. They always did at night.

She should have been there with him right now. Not on this bunk. She was supposed to be in his apartment, having dinner or playing chess or...just _talking_. Max didn't have anybody to talk to here. She missed hanging with Logan, enjoying each other's company. Now and then she'd stayed until it was obvious he was ready for bed. He'd never kicked her out, instead staying up as long as she was there, so Max had always taken her own exit. Sometimes she'd gone up to the Space Needle, sometimes she'd gone for a joyride in the empty streets...

Three months ago, she had dreamed she'd followed him to bed.

It was the sweetest dream she'd ever had, and even though it was a hallucination induced by a gunshot, it still seemed more real to her than anything that happened here. Max didn't belong at Manticore; in her heart she was with Logan, making love to him, enjoying the feel of him loving her. Every night the candles and the warmth of his body replaced the overhead light and the cold stone walls.

They'd almost gotten there for real. On their anniversary, Max and Logan had opened their souls to each other, and they'd been happy. But all too quickly, Max was preparing to storm the gates of her childhood, and Logan was telling her that all he wanted was for her to come back.

Max still fully intended to. But first that guard had to get here.

Eventually the guard came and turned out the light that Max refused every night to turn out. She jumped off the bunk as soon as he left, anchoring it to the wall. Just as she did every night, she removed a slat from the bunk's frame and went to work on the brick mortar with it. Tonight, _finally_, the mortar gave way. With glee Max dropped the slat and slid the brick out of the wall.

She didn't get far, though--a noise in the hallway outside indicated that somebody was coming. She managed to replace the brick and lie back down on her bunk before the light snapped on and the door opened. In stepped...

"Ben?" It couldn't be. Ben was dead--she'd killed him herself, when he'd asked her to. Max knew she'd been dreaming and reminiscing a lot lately, but she could swear this guy was really standing in front of her.

"What?"

Nope--wasn't Ben. This guy had no idea who Ben was. Finally Max was sure that her mind wasn't playing tricks on her. "You look like someone I used to know."

"Well, my designation's 494."

Max tried to ignore the fact that this guy was waltzing right into her cell like he belonged there. "His was 493. You must have been twinned." That would certainly explain the resemblance. Max wondered why she had never seen 494 before. Manticore wasn't _that_ big, especially not now that all its facilities had been consolidated, and anyway there were only a few dozen X5s to begin with. Why did Ben have a twin? Had they known all along that something about him was off?

As if on cue, 494 commented that he'd heard Ben had gone psycho. "Because of him, I had to spend six months in psy-ops. They wanted to make sure it wasn't genetic. Looks like ten years in the world finally got to him."

Max couldn't believe the smirk on his face when he said that last part. "It was this place that got to him."

"Whatever," he said with a shrug. Then he removed his shirt and dropped the knowledge that they'd been paired off as breeding partners.

Breeding partners?!

This place got more disgusting by the minute. As if torture and isolation weren't enough, now she was supposed to sleep with the guy who looked just like her brother? Were they crazy? _Scratch that question_, Max thought--she'd known for years that Manticore was whack. "That's sick!"

"It's your own fault. If you and your friends hadn't destroyed the DNA lab, they'd still be whipping up embryos and putting them into surrogates."

Max had been kept in such isolation, allowed to be around other soldiers only for training, that she had never heard about the effects of their foray into the DNA lab. She'd known the charges had blown, of course, but beyond that, nothing. _So we really did it, huh? We really did take out their ability to make more of us._ She felt a certain satisfaction in that--now there wouldn't be any more kids to brainwash. Nobody else would suffer the same kind of childhood she and Zack and the others had.

That is, if this breeding thing didn't fly. Max had no intention of participating. "Get out of my cell."

"We've got our orders."

Since when did Max follow orders? She told 494 as much by placing a well-timed kick to his chest. The look of surprise on his face as he slammed into the wall was priceless. "What the hell was that?"

"The only physical contact you and I are gonna have," Max informed him. Her body belonged to herself, and nobody else. She would gladly share it with Logan, but if Manticore thought she was going to give 494 access to it, they had another think coming. Even his subsequent attempt to call her contaminated only reinforced her resolve.

"Fine," he replied, apparently realizing he wasn't going to get anywhere. "Dont freak out on me."

Max hadn't expected an indoctrinated X5 to use slang like that. They hadn't been taught it as kids, and any hints of it were harshly punished. 494 noticed her surprise and explained. "I took Common Verbal Usage when I got cleared for my solo missions."

Manticore only had one kind of solo mission--assassination. Other missions were team efforts, with soldiers working as a unit to achieve the objective. Max had spent a good portion of her childhood days working with her siblings to develop the unspoken cooperation necessary for such missions. Briefly she thought about Jace, from whom Max had learned what her own fate might have been had she not escaped in '09. She shuddered to think that her black outfits and nighttime break-ins would have been for the purpose of killing people, instead of cat burgling.

Just then a guard came around, interrupting her thoughts. _Figures--even the sex in this place is supervised,_ Max thought, and made up a sarcastic line to feed him. "He's reading love poetry. You know, to get me in the mood." But instead of reprimanding her or intervening in any way, the guard simply looked to 494 and bought some vitamins from him through the barred window in the door. Since when did Manticore staff make deals with the inmates?

"I got a few things working," was all 494 answered when she commented on it. "Listen, I've got an hour to kill before I head back to the barracks. Why don't you wake me up at 0100?" Then he lay down on her bunk, leaving Max to sulk on the cold, hard floor.

She sighed. It was going to be a _very_ long night.


	7. Chapter 7

**RATING:** PG-13  
**SPOILERS:** Designate This

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"I miss Herbal, man," Sketchy remarked as he joined Original Cindy at their lockers. "I met a great babe last night I'd love to tell him about."

Original Cindy barely looked up from her backpack, where she was digging around to find her pager. "Fool. He's just in Spokane. Give him a call."

"Can't. Long-distance service requires a certain amount of cash, which--in case you haven't noticed--I lack. Even if I had the money, it wouldn't be the same. I have pictures."

_Why does Sketchy have pictures of this girl after just one night?_ Original Cindy rolled her eyes and grunted. Still, after a minute she held out her hand, and Sketchy placed the pictures into them. Their circle of friends at Jam Pony had dwindled, with Max's death and Herbal's departure for a promising job, so Original Cindy and Sketchy had picked up the slack for each other. As she flipped through them, surprised by their innocent nature, she commented, "Damn. She's fine."

"Met her doing bike tricks at Crash," he replied with a lopsided grin. "She has a sister if you're interested."

"Yeah. Maybe." Wouldn't hurt. It wasn't like she had a homegirl to hang with that night.

  
_(FLASHBACK)_

"Can you come over to Logan's?" Bling asked her on the phone. "It's about Max."

Max had been gone a couple of days, but Original Cindy hadn't thought much of it. Not only did Max have a habit of skipping out for a night or two, doing God knows what, but Original Cindy figured she and Logan had been busy celebrating their anniversary. She stepped off Logan's elevator half-expecting to see the two of them still cuddled on the couch.

But the couch held only Logan.

Original Cindy stayed with Kendra and Walter for a few days afterward, not ready to go back and face the apartment she had shared with Max. Going back to Jam Pony was just as hard. Seeing Normal shocked into silence was the only thing that saved her.

(END FLASHBACK)

  
As if reading her thoughts, Sketchy asked the question he couldn't bring himself to stop asking. "Any word on Max?" The Jam Pony crew had heard next to nothing about what had happened to her. An unusually subdued Original Cindy had broken the news to the messengers that Max had gotten into some trouble and was presumed dead. That was all they knew. In a way, their ignorance was a comfort; as long as her body went unfound, they could hope--however doubtfully--that she was still alive somewhere.

Original Cindy, of course, knew more details than the rest of them did, thanks to the fact that she'd been privy to her girl's secret. Still, while she knew the circumstances surrounding Max's disappearance, she had no more clue than they did whether Max was still alive. "Sorry, boo. Nothin'."

"I figured." Sketchy was about to ask Original Cindy what she was having for lunch, in hopes of exchanging away his own drab sandwich, when he remembered it was Wednesday. "Guess Logan'll be here in a few minutes, huh?"

A quick glance at her pager told Original Cindy that he was right. "Yeah. I'll let you know if there's any news."

"Cool. See ya later." He pulled out his sandwich, slung his bag over his shoulder, and munched as he headed for the door. On his way out, he saw Logan walking in, and nodded a greeting to him. Logan nodded back and made his way through a crowd of messengers over to Original Cindy.

"Hey."

"Hey," she answered, zipping her bag and putting it on. "How 'bout the park on Fourth Street today?"

"Sure, fine. Whatever," he answered, and Original Cindy could tell he was even more distracted than he usually was these days. Something was up. She'd have to wait until they were in private to ask about it, though, so they walked to the nearby park in silence.

It had become an unofficial weekly thing, lunch with Logan. The first one had been a sad one, Logan realizing that Original Cindy deserved to know the whole truth about Max's death. They'd each sort of found each other after that--both missing Max and feeling just a little bit closer to her when with the other. Eventually a friendship had developed. Lately, Original Cindy also felt the need to pull Logan out of his own little obsessed world now and then. The boy needed to breathe some fresh air--or as fresh as it could be in post-Pulse Seattle.

When they got to the park, Original Cindy brushed some litter off a picnic table and sat down, digging into the bag of food Logan had brought with him. He sat as well, and the mechanical whine Original Cindy was getting used to stopped. Barely two minutes passed by until it started again, though, as Logan got back up and started pacing.

"What's wit' you today?" she asked as she unwrapped the garlic bread, her stomach growling in response.

"Huh?"

"Come on. Any fool can see something's got your shorts in a bunch. What's on your mind, boo?"

Logan stood there for a minute and then sat down quickly, as if suddenly snapping out of it. His voice lowered. "Got a call from Lydecker last night."

"Max's black-helicopter guy?"

"Yeah. Says he might know where Manticore's gone to."

"That's good," Original Cindy answered without enthusiasm. She knew Logan was looking for Manticore so he could take it down, but unless it would bring Max back, Original Cindy just wasn't that worried about it. Instead she focused on the salad, poking each homemade crouton deliberately and forcefully with her fork.

"I got a feeling about this," Logan said, his tone of voice asking her to care. She raised her eyes and met his intense gaze. "If he comes through on this, I'll have what I need. And...maybe what I want."

"Huh?"

He looked down, studying the ground but not really seeing it. "Asha mentioned the other day that maybe I'm looking for Max more than I am Manticore. I'm not sure, but I couldn't deny it."

Original Cindy put her fork down and watched the man Max had loved. She didn't doubt for a moment that what Asha had said was true. Logan had a highly developed sense of justice, and no doubt he was sincere in his desire to take Manticore to task and prevent further atrocities. But he wasn't just chasing Manticore; he was chasing Max.

She reached over to take his hand, and he looked up in surprise at the sudden contact. "Boo, Original Cindy wouldn't deny it either. Get everything you can outta this Lydecker." She paused and smiled. "Then go back and whip up some more of this garlic bread, 'cause I want leftovers next week."

Logan's face broke into a smile. After that, he relaxed visibly and seemed able to concentrate on eating his lunch. Original Cindy couldn't help feeling a sense of satisfaction at her ability to bring him into the real. Plus maybe by next week he'd have something definitive on Max. She was looking forward to it.


	8. Chapter 8

**RATING:** PG-13  
**SPOILERS:** Designate This  


**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** I've been working on the Dark Angel Virtual Season 3, which will be available for your reading pleasure on September 10 at **www.darkangelvirtuality.com**. Thanks to Phoenix Virtual Television for hosting it. This explains why it's taken me a while to write this chapter, but I've reached a break in episodes, so chapter nine shouldn't take nearly as long. While you wait, check out the VS3 website. Our team has been hard at work and there are some goodies there to tide you over until the season starts.

Enjoy! 

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Lydecker eased his SUV into the alley and parked it, glancing at his watch. He had been delayed when a bus had had its tires shot out and its occupants robbed in the middle of an intersection, causing a traffic jam and general chaos. Now he had to hurry, because McGinnis was going to call within minutes, and for once he wanted to be reached.

That didn't mean he wanted his car to be identified, though. That was why he was parking in an alley two blocks away. He wouldn't put it past her to have spies or even sharpshooters awaiting him on the street.

As he walked toward the payphone he was going to use, Lydecker reviewed Renfro's possible reasons for calling him now. He knew the call wasn't McGinnis' idea; Renfro was using the same strategy he himself would use. Very few people would willingly talk to their enemy, especially if their lives were in danger; more would talk to a friend. _If you can call McGinnis a friend._

Was Renfro planning to find out via their conversation just how much he knew about Manticore's location? Was she hoping to exploit his contact knowledge of Eyes Only, now that she was feeling the heat from that broadcast? She probably knew that Lydecker had set up a videoconference with Eyes Only months ago; as he had found out later, his trusted second-in-command Sandoval hadn't kept secrets very well. Was she calling him solely to locate him for extermination? There was always the possibility, which is why Lydecker had gone to great lengths to secure the phone. At any rate, if he made it through the phone call alive, Renfro would no doubt try to set up a meeting. 

Lydecker reached the phone and glanced around to check for an ambush. No sign of one, though he knew better than anybody that that didn't mean anything. The phone rang moments later. "Lydecker." 

"Deck. This is McGinnis," said the voice on the other end. "You're a hard man to track down." 

"I try to avoid people who are looking to kill me." 

"Have a proposition from the Committee." 

That wasn't surprising. Renfro had the Committee members fooled and they were eating out of her hand. Whatever the proposition was, she had most likely engineered it as a means of getting to him. "Go ahead." 

"They want Eyes Only. I need you to set the meet." 

There it was--a press for Eyes Only information and a means of flushing Lydecker out into the open, all in one neat package. Let it never be said the woman wasted any time. He decided to agree to the meeting, seeing in it a good chance to get some information of his own, as well as advance his plan. Not willing to give it to her that easily, he said, "Look, we both know what that means." 

"You do this, and they'll bring you in from the cold." 

Had he been a less controlled man, Lydecker would have snorted. Did they really think he was that gullible? Might as well go on letting them think so. _Deception is a weapon._ "Since you put it that way..." 

***********************************

Logan ambled into the bar, preoccupied with his thoughts as always. Matt Sung had to say his name a couple of times before Logan noticed and joined him at a corner table. 

"You with me today, man?" Matt asked him. 

"Sure, Matt," Logan answered, but Matt wasn't so sure. Rare as it was for Logan to meet with him for an Eyes Only mission these days, it was even harder to get Logan's brain to show up as well. 

Matt sighed as he removed a disc from his jacket pocket and handed it to Logan. "Here's what I got on Sullivan. It's pretty clear that Beltran hasn't been twiddling his thumbs in prison." 

"Thanks." Logan took the disc and started to leave. "I'd better get going." 

"You didn't even ask what's on the disc," Matt protested, and Logan stopped short. "These files directly connect a corrupt former mayor and a county administrator who's overseen some pretty questionable elections." 

In the old days, Logan's eyes would have lit with indignation at such corruption in the city and he would have pressed Matt for even more information. Not so tonight. "I'm glad you got this, Matt. I've just got some other things to take care of." 

"I thought this was a high priority for Eyes Only," Matt said, confused. "Has he given you another assignment or something?" 

Logan flapped the disc absentmindedly against his fingers. "Actually, I'm working on something of my own. But I'll make sure Eyes Only gets this. He'll know what to do with it." 

"I hope he can move on it. It's pretty serious stuff." 

It _is_ serious, Logan thought, and suddenly it hit him how much he was neglecting in his pursuit of Manticore. While he searched for the facility--or Max--politicians kept taking payoffs, elections kept getting fixed, cops kept arresting innocent people, and Seattle's citizens kept getting a raw deal. He'd set out to save the world, but here he was too busy to even worry about his own city. 

He had to find Manticore soon. Seattle wasn't going to wait for him. 

***********************************

Renfro was debriefing the X5s on the results of their breedings the night before, and Max wasn't sure what she would say when it was her turn to report. Telling Renfro that she'd refused to cooperate would definitely bring her more pain, whether physical or psychological...probably both. Lying about it, though, wasn't much more attractive as an option. It would give Renfro the satisfaction of knowing Max had given in to her. 

In the end, X5-494 made the decision for her. "Successful copulation between myself and X5-452, ma'am." Max kept herself from grimacing at the thought. 

"Twice." 

She was going to have to kick him again for that one. 

Renfro's face reflected surprise, then smugness, and for the millionth time Max was tempted to hit it. "Excellent, 452. What would your boyfriend say?" 

For a brief moment, Max's eyes showed the pain she imagined such a revelation would cause Logan. Moments later, though, the acceptance he had shown her on their anniversary gave her the confidence to regard Renfro's comment with disdain rather than guilt. No matter what the bitch thought, Max hadn't done anything wrong. Her face became stony again. 

Renfro changed topics. "Tell me something. Did you receive any medical treatment while you were on the outside?" 

"No, ma'am." That much, at least, was the truth. One advantage of being a revved-up girl: she didn't really get sick, and she healed quickly from whatever small injuries she received in the occasional fight. The tryptophan didn't count as "medical treatment" in her book. 

"Then how do you explain this?" 

Max found herself looking down at what could have been. Her X7 clone, the girl who was responsible for Max being here right now, lay under bags of ice and hooked up to oxygen. Her skin was shriveled and Max could see the slightest bit of fear in the girl's otherwise blank gaze. Images of Brin in the same condition jumped to Max's mind, followed--as they always were--by a shudder, because she knew that that Brin no longer existed. 

"She's a younger version of you, but she's suffering from late-stage progeria. Except for her X7-specific code sequences, her DNA is identical to yours." _Tell me something I don't know._ "So I'm gonna ask you again: Did you receive any medical care that we should know about?" 

"No, ma'am." 

"Then I guess we're just gonna have to do spinals on you both so we can run a DNA analysis. Or maybe you've just been lucky," Renfro added, that old smugness creeping into her otherwise matter-of-fact tone. "For all we know, _that_ could still happen to you." 

_There's no such thing as luck._ Zack's voice echoed in Max's head. He had learned the maxim from Lydecker, which means Max had heard and uttered the same words many times herself in childhood, but Zack still believed them. What would he say if he saw her now? Was she fighting hard enough? 

_Success depends on having a well-thought-out plan that's executed with precision._ The old words now served to comfort her, and strengthened her resolve. She couldn't wait to get back to her cell and pull out that loose brick. 


	9. Chapter 9

**RATING:** PG-13  
**SPOILERS:** Designate This  


**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** My next chapter may take a while, because I'm starting to work on another episode of Virtual Season 3. I promise there's good stuff on the way, though. In the meantime, don't forget to check out VS3 at **www.darkangelvirtuality.com**!

*************************************************************************************

That night, Max ignored the soreness from the spinal tap, as she had always been taught to do, and eagerly dug into her work at the wall in her cell. By this time she had loosened half of the adjacent brick, and in the wee hours of the morning, it finally gave way. Adrenaline sped her actions as she arranged the bricks and blankets in the shape of a human form on her cot. At last Max slipped through the gap and silently slid down a pipe.

_Just like robbing a mansion,_ she thought, _or a penthouse._

The pipe led down to some kind of boiler room. There was nobody around, but Max could see it had been occupied recently. Food crumbs were scattered on the ground, an old couch had a broken spring, and in the distance she could hear the tail end of a toilet flush. The janitor who lived there couldn't be far off. She'd have to be careful...never knew which of the building staff were sympathetic and which were against you. Max wondered briefly whether the janitor who had shown her and her siblings the Blue Lady all those years ago was still around.

She heard a sudden growl and figured the janitor had a guard dog. Picturing a German shepherd like the ones that had chased them during the escape, or like the one Zack said Zane had, Max crept toward the sound. Moments later, she was proved wrong. What she saw was not a guard dog but mostly a man. His face was snoutlike, his incisors were extra sharp, and his long hair brought to mind floppy ears. He rushed at her, barking and snapping.

_I know Original Cindy says men are dogs, but this is ridiculous._ Even as she made the mental wisecrack, Max realized she was looking at a nomlie. After all those years spent talking about the nomlies and fearing them, here she was, face-to-face with one. Max wondered what Ben would say if he knew she'd crawled right into the place he had wanted so desperately to avoid.

"Easy, easy, easy," she said in an effort to calm the nomlie down, ignoring the fear bubbling up in her stomach. "Relax, big fella."

He stopped in his tracks. "You relax, little fella."

"Wow, you can talk." Max hadn't figured such a mixture of dog and human could speak, let alone be capable of the sarcasm compacted into his subsequent one-word response. "Sorry. I've just--I've never seen anyone that looks like you before."

She shouldn't have been so surprised, though. Max was all too aware of the fact that she had feline DNA; it made sense that Manticore would have used canine at some point. They had screwed up this guy's recipe, though. He would never be useful as a soldier, unable as he was to blend in with the crowd. He was one of Ben's nomlies, a Manticore mistake living in the basement. "So what happened? They put too much canine DNA in your cocktail?"

The big man sniffed the air. "Cat. Cat in your cocktail."

"Don't hold it against me."

He had stopped barking and growling, and was now just watching her. Max's first instinct was to establish dominance. He seemed a little too human for dog commands, so Max asked instead to look at his teeth. He growled as she reached toward his mouth, and at one point she feared she would lose a finger, but eventually he let her pry open his lips.

_He may be a nomlie, but he doesn't seem too bad._

"You're X5," the guy said, and Max wondered how he knew that. Had any X5s been tossed in the basement after she'd escaped eleven years ago? Maybe Ben hadn't been the only ticking time bomb...

She shook off the thought. "Yeah. You can call me Max." She offered to shake his hand, but just as if he were a dog, she had to show him how. _Guess they don't care much for teaching the mistakes pleasantries._ Introductions now made, Max got down to the business at hand and began looking around. She'd spent all that time digging out of her cell; now she had to find a way out of this basement.

"Max...Max...Father named you?"

Father? Max didn't have a father. The only paternal figures she'd ever had in her life were Lydecker and the occasional foster dad, but there was no way she would give them any credit for determining who she was now. "Nope, no father. Just me."

"Father named me...Joshua."

So the nomlie had a name. But who on earth was he talking about? Nomlies didn't have parents either. They'd been built from a test tube just like she had. "Father? You don't mean Lydecker?"

Joshua growled at the mere mention of the man's name. Max had to admit she'd had a similar reaction for years. "No. Father...Sandman."

The sandman?! What substance was this guy on?! Well, maybe he had it wrong. His language was a little stilted anyway. _Lack of human contact will do that to you,_ Max thought. _If I don't get out of here soon, or at least out of solitary, I'm gonna sound like that._

Joshua shushed her as a guard passed by in a nearby hallway.

"So they don't know you're down here?" How could they lose count of a nomlie? Wouldn't his father at least know? Joshua's answer to that question surprised her. "He just left you here?"

Joshua responded with resignation, as if his sadness had been muted with time. "Made me, then left me. True enough."

"That's pretty wack." And it was.

"He made us all. I was first--special," Joshua commented, and despite her growing curiosity, Max couldn't help but imagine Joshua with a name tag that read First Nomlie. "Then more like me...more like you...more people--up there people."

Max ignored his next words and focused instead on what he had just said. She and her siblings had wondered for years whose idea their existence had been. _Guess what, Zack? The sandman brought us. Maybe he was filling in for the stork._

Whatever.

"It's too bad you don't have a room with a view," Max said, changing the subject. "You know, a window. I'm looking for a way out of here." And just like that, Joshua was ushering her out of the boiler room and into the hallway. Max felt tingles creeping up her spine as she walked through the land of the nomlies, who were screeching and screaming and waving their hands through the barred windows in their cell doors.

"Looks like this father of yours kept himself real busy," she said, to distract herself from the heebie-jeebies she was getting.

"Some like me," Joshua commented, "some not so good." He paused to quiet a groaning creature. "Hungry."

"Maybe someone oughta feed 'em." Suddenly Max was feeling irritable. It was just like Manticore to give their star soldiers three squares a day and let the embarrassments starve.

"They do...sometimes." Joshua glanced at her, then kept walking. "I do sometimes."

Eventually she and Joshua reached another room, this one with a hidden window. It was barred, and there were X7 clones guarding the perimeter outside, but at this point _any_ way out looked good to Max. She began to salivate. She could taste freedom already.


	10. Chapter 10

_I'm back! Now that we've finished with VS3, and I've had some time to rest, I'm writing again. This chapter and the next were originally conceived as one, but I've decided to split them up. Hope you enjoy._

Thanks to Kasman, catherder, and Alaidh for the beta. 

  


****************************************************

  
The next afternoon, Logan dropped his pen and sat back in his chair with a sigh. He had spent all morning working on his search, tracking the money trails that led out of Manticore's Gillette facility. He'd obtained a list of VA hospitals throughout the country and dug up the financial records of as many as he could. Of the hospitals whose records he'd examined so far, none had experienced a sharp increase in funding during the past few months to match the decline at the Gillette hospital. If he finished the list and still didn't find what he was looking for, he would have to find a way to dig up the financial records he was missing. It was a long process.

Now his rumbling stomach let him know it was well past lunchtime, and his shoulders were all kinked up. It was time to move around. Logan decided to make another batch of garlic bread and run it over to Jam Pony. Original Cindy would appreciate the "leftovers," and maybe she'd share with her coworkers as well.

Briefly, Logan wondered whether Max had ever taken goodies to Jam Pony to share with her fellow messengers. Then again, there might not have been leftovers to speak of. Max had always had a ravenous appetite—due to her advanced metabolism, he supposed. He'd asked her about it once.

_FLASHBACK:_

"You always put away two platefuls in a sitting?" Logan asked Max, a smile on his lips, after watching her polish off her second helping of every dish on the table.

"Hey, a revved-up girl's gotta eat," she answered. "Higher engine speeds require more fuel."

"The really good engines are fuel-efficient," he teased her.

The smile on her own face grew wider as she took a sip of the wine in her glass. "They also run better on high octane. Where else does a girl get beef tenderloin and fresh raspberries? I'm just fillin' up my tank while I have the chance."

END FLASHBACK

Logan had been disappointed by that remark, he remembered now. Max had called him her meal ticket earlier that evening. He'd wondered whether his cooking was her main motivation for coming over.

Eventually, as they had grown closer, she had quit making those meal-ticket jokes. Logan still wasn't sure whether Max had really seen him that way in the beginning, or if those jokes had been just a defense mechanism to keep herself from allowing him too close. While his ego hoped for the latter, it didn't really matter which was the truth. She had fallen in love with him.

And now she was gone. He'd give anything to have Max around to call him her meal ticket now.

Sighing, Logan headed into the kitchen and began preparing the garlic bread. Cooking proved a good distraction that day, as it often did. Sometimes he allowed himself to think Max was just in the other room, waiting for dinner to be served. Of course, that only made it harder when he put the food on the table and nobody came to sit down at it. Cooking for Original Cindy, at least he knew someone other than himself would enjoy the final product.

While the bread was in the oven, Logan wheeled into the exercise room to put on the exoskeleton. He'd head over to Jam Pony as soon as the bread was done and hope Original Cindy was between runs, so the bread would still be warm when he gave it to her. A smile cracked his face as he imagined the hungry looks Sketchy would be shooting her way.

He was just about to put on his pants when his cell phone rang. _Lydecker!_ he thought. _And of course the phone's in the other room._ Logan hurried over to the phone, not wanting to miss the call and his chance to find out Manticore's location. A quick glance at the caller ID confirmed Logan's suspicion. "Lydecker," Logan said in greeting.

"That's my line." The voice on the other end sounded slightly amused.

"Thought you were going to get back to me yesterday."

"Something came up," Lydecker said. Logan had no doubt that something had. Whether Lydecker had anticipated it or initiated it was a different question.

Logan realized he was still standing by the window in his shorts and headed back to the exercise room to finish dressing. "You got time to talk now? I want to know where Manticore is. You said something about a contingency location."

"Not on the phone," Lydecker replied. "I think you know how easily a phone call can be traced. Meet me at 46 Belton tonight, and—"

"No, I want to do it now."

"Now?" Lydecker repeated.

"Yeah! Right now!" _Didn't I say it clearly enough the first time?_ Logan knew he was getting testy, but he didn't care. There was no way he was going to let another chance slip away. 

Lydecker paused. "All right. We'll do it now."

"Okay. I'll meet you there."

Logan hung up, grabbed his keys, and headed for the door. He was so preoccupied with his thoughts of Manticore that he didn't hear the elevator ding outside his apartment.

"Hey." Asha's presence on the other side of the door when he opened it took Logan by surprise.

"Oh. Hi. Uh, what's up?"

"I need a favor. I gotta go to Sector Three—can I stash this here?" she asked, indicating the large box she was holding.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Something I don't want the sector police to see."

Asha apparently didn't want him to know what was in the box, but Logan waited for an explanation anyway. The box was clearly heavy; she kept having to boost it up to get a better grip on it.

"It's a box of guns," she explained in a rush, finally giving in.

"Right. Okay. Well, look, I gotta meet someone so, uh, let yourself out, okay?"

Expecting Logan to object, Asha looked slightly surprised when he didn't. "Okay. Thanks. I promise it'll be gone by tomorrow night."

The members of the S1W were much more willing to use violence than he, if they deemed it convenient to achieve their means. Logan didn't like encouraging that practice and Asha knew it. This time, however, he was too distracted to worry about it. He had to get to the warehouse before Lydecker changed his mind.

While waiting to pass from Sector Nine to Sector Five, he realized he'd left the garlic bread baking in the oven.

Luckily, Asha hadn't yet left his apartment, and she agreed to turn off the oven. Logan closed his phone just as a sector cop finished inspecting his pass. Now able to concentrate on the meeting before him, Logan eased his Aztek through the gate and headed for the warehouse. 


	11. Chapter 11

_As promised, here's what was originally conceived as part of the previous chapter.  Hope you enjoy._

_Thanks to Alaidh for betaing, and to Denise N. Rodier and especially Lelu for providing technical expertise._

_--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Eventually Logan arrived outside the warehouse.  He had kept an eye on his mirrors the whole way there, checking for a tail, but had seen none.  He turned off the car and sat there for a minute, staring at the building.  Memories of his last trip there replayed in his head.

_Arriving full of fear for Max's safety...Zack in the passenger seat...Meeting Syl and Krit...calling his contacts to find Lydecker and Max...great relief when Max drove in...revulsion at seeing Lydecker...Max and her sibs deciding to attack Manticore...anger at Lydecker's twisted attitude...maintaining his balance on the slope of the Space Needle, wanting to hold Max but not daring remove his hands from the surface...the long, tense drive to Wyoming...guiding the X5s through the depths of Manticore...pointing the gun at Lydecker...worry at Max's silence...fear, panic, horror—_

_Stop it!_

Logan squeezed his eyes shut and ducked his head in an effort to stop the flashbacks.  For one brief second, he allowed the pain of Max's apparent death to course through his body on the wave of adrenaline.  He gasped.  Gulping lungfuls of air, he shook his head and forcefully calmed himself down.  This was not the time.  He had to keep his head or he would never get the information he needed from Lydecker.

When he was calm, Logan decided the car would be safer parked inside than on the street, and drove through a raised door.  He could see Lydecker standing across the room with his arms crossed.  Other than a sunburn, Lydecker looked the same as he had back then.  Logan stepped out of the car and bit down the bitter remark that jumped to his tongue.

"You said you had some information for me?" he asked instead.

"I did," Lydecker said, strangely subdued.  He said nothing else.

Growing annoyed or suspicious—maybe both—Logan prodded, "I'm trying to find Manticore."

"Looks like Manticore found _you_," said another voice.  Soon a second man stepped out from behind a column, wearing an eye patch under his sunglasses and pointing a gun.  Two armed soldiers approached Logan from behind.  Something clicked in Logan's mind and he realized this must be the man who had provided the security clearance for the raid on Manticore.

Logan glared at Lydecker, reserving as much venom for himself as for the other man.  He should have known Lydecker might double-cross him, but he hadn't taken time to think about it before leaving the house in a hurry, and consequently was unarmed.

"Sorry, son."  Upon hearing Lydecker's words, Logan realized Lydecker wasn't looking to kill him—he had given Logan up.  If he didn't think of something fast, Eyes Only would meet his end at the hands of the very people he'd been planning to take down.  Some small part of Logan chuckled that that was how he'd always imagined his fate anyway.

"So this is the great and powerful Oz," McGinnis smirked.  He began removing his sunglasses.  "Hold on here—let me get a good look."

"I wouldn't do that, Jim," Lydecker said.  Before Logan knew it, Lydecker had grabbed McGinnis' gun hand.  "Duck!"

Logan ducked.  He wasn't fast enough.

The sound of the gunshot and the nearly instantaneous pain in his left arm sent him reeling.  For a moment he was back on that street downtown, lying on the ground and gasping for breath.  He panicked.  Blood pounded in his ears as he fought to separate himself from the ambush by Sonrisa's men.

Slowly he returned to the present.  The Manticore soldiers lay dead nearby.  He straightened up, holding his arm and testing its function.  It seemed to work.

Lydecker had McGinnis on the ground.  "You all right?" he asked Logan.

_What kind of question is that?_  "You shot me!"  Didn't Lydecker realize Logan needed his arms intact?

"I told you to duck," Lydecker answered, his eyes not leaving McGinnis.  "It just winged you."

Logan cautiously lifted his right hand to inspect the damage underneath.  Some blood had spattered onto the floor at impact, but the wound did indeed look to be superficial.  Logan breathed a sigh of relief and got out the first-aid kit he kept in the car.  While he patched himself up, he kept an ear on the conversation between Lydecker and McGinnis.

"We had a deal!"  McGinnis protested, standing up.

"Renfro," Lydecker asked.  "What's she doing to the X5s?"

"I don't know."

Lydecker wrenched McGinnis' arm behind his back and pulled out his own gun.  "She murdered one of my kids," Lydecker said angrily, holding the gun to McGinnis' head.  "That bitch murdered one of my kids!"

Logan turned to look at Lydecker, who was now screaming.  He'd never seen Lydecker lose his cool like that before.  The comment sounded strange, coming from a man who had once killed a young girl himself.

When McGinnis agreed to talk, Lydecker shoved him back to the floor.  "Now don't play stupid, or I'll take your other eye."

McGinnis stood up.  "All right.  The tank is some kind of extraction chamber.  She was trying to find out something in the girl's DNA."

"What?"

Logan wondered the same thing while he relieved one of the dead soldiers of an assault rifle.  What was Renfro looking for in Tinga?  What was worth taking Tinga's life in order to get it?

"I don't know.  Look, whatever she wanted, she wanted it bad.  But it wasn't there."  McGinnis touched his bleeding lip.  "Damn, Deck, I'm gonna need some stitches.  Could you please take me to the hospital now?"

"There's a small problem with that, Jim.  You got a good look at my friend here," Lydecker said, indicating Logan.

_Friend?_ Logan thought.  _Yeah, right.  And since when does he care about protecting Eyes Only's identity?_  Logan decided Lydecker must be up to something.  He usually was.

"No," McGinnis protested.  "No, no, I didn't.  I hardly laid an eye on the guy.  My depth perception's all shot.  Besides, all you white boys, you know, you all look alike to me."  Neither Lydecker nor Logan laughed at the joke, and McGinnis resorted to pleading.  "Come on, Deck.  We're old friends."

Lydecker turned to face Logan.  "What do you think?"

Logan realized later that Lydecker wasn't really asking for his opinion.  McGinnis dove for his gun, thinking Lydecker's turned back afforded him an opportunity.  It didn't.  Lydecker shot him without even turning around.

"We never really liked each other, did we?" Lydecker asked the dead McGinnis.

Logan approached, eyes widened in shock.  He'd always heard about Lydecker's quick trigger finger, but seeing it in person was something else entirely.  How could he be sure Lydecker wouldn't do the same to _him_ once Lydecker got what he wanted?  Logan tightened his grip on the assault rifle.

Lydecker turned to Logan.  "So you want to know about Manticore?"

"You're damn right I do," Logan answered quickly.  "Are you gonna give it to me this time?  Or are you setting me up again?"

"Son, I just made your life easier.  Renfro was the one who wanted to take you out, not me." Lydecker stepped to the door and looked outside the building, making sure no reinforcements were on the way.

"As I recall, Eyes Only has made life difficult for you, too, on more than one occasion."

"And I just saved your ass anyway.  So trust me and listen up."

Logan closed his mouth, deciding Lydecker wasn't currently a threat to his personal safety.  Wanting to sit down so he could concentrate on taking notes, but not willing to give up his height advantage over Lydecker, he found a tall crate nearby and sat on it.  Lydecker stood in front of him, pacing occasionally.  The two men met at about eye level.

"As I said the other day," Lydecker began, "Manticore always has a contingency plan, in case anything endangers its existence or its soldiers.  For large threats, the plan requires that all branches and divisions be temporarily combined.  At any given time, there can be as many as ten areas—spread across the country—listed in the plan as possible relocation sites.  Where Manticore goes after such a threat depends on a number of factors."

He took a breath and continued.  "I know the procedure, the selection process.   I had their new location narrowed down to three sites, with one more probable than the others.  A contact inside gave me the information I needed yesterday to confirm."

"Where is it?"

"Montana," Lydecker answered, stopping his pacing briefly to watch Logan scribble notes.  "About ninety klicks southwest of Hamilton, near the Idaho border.  But you don't want to reveal that just yet."

Logan looked up from his notes, brow knitted in suspicion.  He had been planning to make the hack tonight.  "No?  Why not?"

"If Manticore's consolidated facility is exposed—the worst-case scenario, as far as the government's concerned—the contingency plan calls for it to be destroyed in order to maintain secrecy.  You can bet that Renfro will come out on top, without a scratch, to start over someplace else."

Logan narrowed his eyes.  This was starting to sound like Lydecker's main goal was to get Renfro's goat.  "Why should I postpone this to accommodate your jealousy?"

Lydecker pursed his lips, raising his head slightly to glare at Logan through lowered lids.   "You should postpone this because dozens of soldiers will die if you don't.  The plan calls for their destruction as well."

That one stopped Logan.  What if, by some small chance, Max was alive and inside?  Exposing the place would be the end of her—and this time, he wouldn't even be there to say goodbye.

 "You're going to expose Manticore's location," Lydecker said, seeing Logan pause, "but not until we're prepared to stop Renfro before she kills everyone inside."

Logan forced himself to take his mind off Max and think about the other people at Manticore.  What kind of justice would bring about the death of dozens of people?  Lydecker was right.  Eyes Only had to wait until those people would be safe.

After a few moments, Logan nodded.  "So what's the plan?"

Lydecker stepped out the door to check once again for enemies.  On his way back in, he saw something on the concrete floor near Logan's car and crouched to examine it.  It was the spatter of blood from Logan's arm.

"Admiring your handiwork?" Logan couldn't help commenting.

"You can't leave this here.  Renfro will find it," Lydecker answered, standing up.  "DNA can be dangerous in the wrong hands."  He removed a handkerchief from his rear jeans pocket and attempted to wipe up the blood.  The concrete in the old warehouse was unsealed, however, and some of Logan's blood had already dried into it.

Lydecker removed his leather jacket and began rolling up his left sleeve.  When his upper arm was bare, he pulled out a pocketknife with his right hand.

"What are you doing?" Logan asked, even though he already knew.

Lydecker examined the blade.  "My DNA is already on file," he said simply.  He paused, steeled his jaw, and touched the blade to his own triceps.  With one quick movement, he sliced off a piece of skin about an inch and a half in diameter.  The cut was shallow, just deep enough to bleed profusely.  Lydecker, gritting his teeth, kneeled over the spatter stain and let his own blood cover it.

"First step in the plan," he said after a couple of minutes.  "Hand me that first-aid kit."


	12. Chapter 12

_I was going to include a link at the bottom of this chapter to make it easier for any unregistered readers to email me a review, but ffnet won't accept hyperlink codes.  :(  So I'll just say right here that you can email me at kyre352@yahoo.com._

_Thanks to Kasman and Alaidh for the beta._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max made her way back from the bathroom, escorted by a guard.  Her cell being isolated and not equipped with a bathroom of its own, she was required to walk to the other end of the hall in order to relieve herself.  She was always under guard, never left alone outside her cell.  They knew she hadn't broken yet, and they didn't trust her.

_With good reason_, she thought to herself.  _I'd blaze the minute they turned their backs._

Still, it was a pain.  She wasn't even allowed to pee in private.  The stall door always remained open so the guard could make sure she didn't try anything.

Once in her cell, Max stared at the guard until he locked the door and left.  Then she flopped down onto her bunk to wait until 1400 hours, when she was due out in the yard for exercises.  She was tired.  She'd been subjected to propaganda and torture all morning.  After a while, it really started to wear on a girl.

There were times when she wondered whether she'd ever get out.  She'd been looking for opportunities to escape ever since she'd healed from her heart transplant, but none had presented themselves for a long time.  If she didn't find one or make one, she'd be locked down, belittled, and tortured for the rest of her life—or until she gave up.  That single thought was more horrifying than anything she'd experienced outside Manticore.  Lately it had been creeping more and more into her mind.  She refused to let it stay there, and pushed it out every time.  That was easier to do now that she had Joshua's window to focus on.

So every morning she steeled herself for what was to come, thinking of her outside life until she had the motivation to withstand whatever they threw at her.

~~~~~~~~~

"452, on your feet!" said a guard outside her door precisely at 1355.

Max gave him a defiant glare before standing up, taking her time to sinuously rise from the bed and saunter toward the door.  She wasn't particularly trying to seduce him, as she had various men many times in the past, but she enjoyed toying with him and reminding him that he wasn't always in control.

She arrived at the door.  He just stood there, watching her.

"You gonna let me out?" Max asked.  He finally came to his senses and pressed the button that unlocked the door.  She pushed it open and sauntered into the hallway.  The guard followed closely.

Halfway through the building on the way to the yard, the guard stopped her.  "Wait."

"Trying to sneak a few minutes alone?" Max said coyly, angling her head to appear more alluring.

The guard gave a hint of a smile as he handcuffed her to a nearby pipe.  He dropped the key into his breast pocket and set down his weapon.

"You really know how to romance a girl," Max commented.  "But I'm not sure now's the time.  Can't we find someplace more private?"  _Come on, you're within kicking range.  Just take out the key..._

The guard said nothing as he bent over to tie his bootlace.  He uncuffed her when he was done and they continued their walk.

Once at the door to the yard, Max dropped the seduction act and geared herself mentally for exercises.  Out here, she could throw her pent-up energy into physical activity, and her anger at Manticore into throttling her opponent.

"452, in line four," the drill sergeant barked, nodding at the empty space in the fourth row of soldiers.  Max stepped into the indicated spot and faced forward, adopting a disdainful expression on her face.  They could make her train, but she sure wasn't going to let them think she liked it.

The drill sergeant addressed the group at large.  "You will spar with the soldier next to you.  Begin now!"

Max turned to her opponent and gasped.

"Jondy?"

~~~~~~~~~

When Zack had re-entered her life months ago, posing as Sam, Max hadn't recognized him.  Later, she'd asked Logan to get some advanced age-progression software and generate pictures of her fellow '09 escapees as adults.  She had memorized those pictures, then destroyed them so Lydecker couldn't get his hands on them.  The face of Jondy, in particular, was burned into Max's memory.  The two had been so close in childhood that Max was confident she would recognize Jondy's features anywhere.

Max saw Jondy in front of her now—not as a computer-generated image, but in the form of a living, breathing person.

She was slightly taller than Max, with dark red hair.  Her large, green eyes narrowed at Max's outburst.  "Excuse me?"

"Don't you recognize me?" Max asked, her stomach sinking.

"Yeah. You're X5-452, one of the rogues," Jondy said, looking Max up and down as if she were spouting gibberish.

"Oh, God," Max whispered.  "They got you too."  She couldn't believe it.  Ever since the escape, she had hoped Jondy had remained free.  She had imagined her as a fashion photographer, or an architect, or a girl on the run—anything other than a soldier.  And now, to find out that she had been wrong, that Jondy had been recaptured all this time...

Jondy adopted a fighting stance, ready to spar as instructed, but Max stood still.  Her horror at seeing her beloved sister brainwashed and thoroughly belonging to Manticore kept her feet rooted to the ground.

She stood there so long that the drill sergeant noticed and came over to shout at her.  "452!  Fight!  Now!"  Numbly Max raised her fists, and Jondy began throwing punches.  Max defended herself, but she couldn't bring herself to go on the offensive.

As soon as the drill sergeant moved out of earshot to supervise another pair of soldiers, Max said in a low voice, "You don't even remember my name?"

"Name?" Jondy repeated, throwing a punch.

"I'm Max," Max said desperately as she swerved out of the way.  "Remember, Jondy?"

"I don't know what you're talking about.  And quit calling me that."

"Come on, Jondy, it's me," Max insisted emphatically.  She grabbed Jondy's fist as it came at her again and held it there, staring into Jondy's eyes and willing her to remember.

Jondy yanked her hand away and kicked Max in the thigh.  Max went down.  She lay on the ground and looked up as the other woman stood over her.  The expression on Jondy's face changed slightly, as if she suddenly understood.

"Now I get it," she said.  "You think I'm one of your fellow rogues."

Max allowed a glimmer of hope to arise inside her and a smile to emerge on her face.  If she could just keep talking, she could bring Jondy's memory back.  "We broke out together," she nodded.

Jondy smirked.  "Wrong."

"Come on!  You got recaptured at some point.  I don't know how long you've been here, but you're still Jondy."

"Boy, they really _have_ kept you isolated, haven't they?" Jondy sneered.  "I've been here two days, and I'm not this Jondy you keep talking about."

_Impossible!  No way any of us could be brainwashed in two days.  It has to be a lie.  Unless..._

She slowly stood up, her own eyes narrowing, her fists coming up of their own accord.  "You're her twin, aren't you?"

"Took you a while to figure that out," the redhead said.  "My designation's 211.  Now start fighting like a real soldier."

Max began throwing punches of her own.  "How many twins are there?"

"I don't know," the other woman shrugged, blocking Max's punches.  "One for each rogue.  Probably more."

After a minute of sparring, Max got X5-211 in a choke hold.  "How do you know about us?" she demanded.  "They didn't tell us about you."

X5-211 squirmed, attempting to twist out of Max's grip.  "They didn't tell us, either.  We overheard the techs after they dragged us into the basement for testing when you took off in '09.  Thanks a lot for that, by the way."

"What block were you in?" Max asked.

"12," the redhead answered.  She escaped Max's hold and flipped over her, raising her fists again.

"Yeah, right,"  Max snorted with her this-person-is-so-stupid look.  "I never saw you there."  She side-kicked X5-211 in the stomach, sending her sprawling.

The drill sergeant returned, precluding her opponent from responding.  "Well done, 452.  Your skills are improving."

"What can I say?" Max said with a growl.  "This place just makes me wanna fight."


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N:  I went back and counted the days that have passed during the timeline of this fic, and I realized I made a small mistake in the previous chapter.  Jondy's twin has been there two days, not four.  It's been corrected._

_Thanks to Alaidh and Kasman for the beta._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night, Max filed away at the bars on Joshua's window.  Moonlight fell over her shoulders as she thought about the woman she had met earlier that day.  How many more twins were out there?  Did each X5 have one?  How come she had never seen any of them during her childhood at Manticore when the twins also lived in block 12?  Why had Jondy's twin said she'd only been there two days?

A thought made her pause.  What if her siblings hadn't been the people she'd thought they were?

_No_, she thought, dismissing that possibility.  She'd known her siblings inside and out when they were kids.  Something else had to be going on.

When the tip of the sun began to glimmer on the horizon, Max put down her file, looking with satisfaction at the gouges in the bars.  "Another night or two, and we'll be in business," she told herself as much as Joshua.  She allowed herself to feel just a little bit excited at the prospect.  Things rarely went as planned in this place, and she couldn't yet consider this particular escape route reliable.  Still...she was getting closer.  She smiled.

Max headed back down the dank hallway, stopping for a few minutes to explain to Joshua why he wouldn't fit in outside the walls of the basement.  She felt bad that he had only a lifetime of captivity to look forward to—a life she wouldn't wish on anyone—but at least he had carved out his own, secret place in the basement.  Manticore had forgotten he existed.  He was freer than any of the soldiers living upstairs, freer even than she had been as a child.

Thoughts of freedom made Max smile again as she climbed the pipe back to her cell.  Soon she would be out of here.  Once upon a time, she had risked her own freedom to be with Logan when he'd needed her.  Now she was working to win it back so she could be with him again.  _And with my friends, of course, she added with a grin.  __Wonder if Sketchy's picked up any new bike tricks._

"Forget we had a date?"

Halfway through the wall, Max froze.

Damn.  X5-494 hadn't shown up the previous night; she'd figured he wouldn't be coming tonight either.  Max berated herself for making such a careless assumption.  She was supposed to be fighting hard, for Zack, not making stupid mistakes.  Now her escape route was compromised—and it was her own fault.

Max stood up slowly.  She knew she was screwed.  "So when do the stormtroopers bust in?"

"Don't worry.  I didn't set off the alarm."  X5-494 smiled smugly and added, "Not yet."

"What do you want?"  _Besides tail, she added mentally._

He professed to have no plans to turn her in, but she didn't believe that for a minute.  Max had felt a sense of danger from him from the moment he'd first entered her cell two nights ago.  Trusting a loyal Manticore soldier who was inside the walls and unrestrained would be an irreparable mistake—one which she had no intention of making.  Her first one had been bad enough.

While she restored her cell to its original state, Max informed X5-494 what Manticore was really all about.  He didn't believe her, of course, but she hadn't really expected him to.  What else did he know, living his entire life behind Manticore's walls?  That was okay.  He could continue to believe their lies.  She just wanted out.

And she _would_ get out—if it was the last thing she did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun had almost finished burning off the morning haze when Logan arrived at the broken-down storage facility.  He parked half a mile away, not willing to let his car get shot up again if things went sideways, and walked to the entrance.  The small, wooden buildings in the facility had been left to rot in the sea air when the Pulse hit and looked like they were barely standing.  Logan checked each one of them as he walked by, his hand on the pistol in his jacket pocket.   This time he wasn't taking chances.

Logan entered the last building in the row.  Lydecker was pacing at the other end of the room, facing the door, finishing a phone call in a low voice.  Afterward he pressed several buttons on his phone, regarding the display carefully.  Finally he was satisfied and put the phone in the pocket of his jacket.

"This part of your network of secret meeting places?" Logan asked him, looking around.

"In my position, it pays to take precautions," Lydecker said without looking at Logan.  He took some papers out of his jacket and set them on a nearby table.   "Same as you."

Logan conceded the point with a brief raise of his eyebrows and tilt of his head.  He waited for Lydecker to start speaking.  Lydecker simply put on his glasses and looked over the papers he had spread out.

Finally Logan decided to start the meeting himself.  He drew a folded piece of notebook paper from his pocket and held it up.  "Rented the car.  You'll have to pick it up."  Lydecker nodded.  "Did your contact get the codes?"

Lydecker reached into his breast pocket and plucked out a computer disk.  "Right here." Logan handed him the paper and took the disk.   "You have 48 hours to crack them and set up any programs you'll need to use."

"Wait a minute," Logan protested, surprised.  "48 hours?  That's it?"

"My contact has indicated that Sunday night will be the best time to hack into Manticore's system," Lydecker confirmed, turning back to the papers and adjusting his glasses to inspect them.  "An upgrade will make it necessary to take security offline for a brief period.  The chances of being detected will be as small as they're going to get."

"How brief?"

"Sometime between 2200 and 2300 hours, my contact will flip the switch," Lydecker answered.  "At that point, you'll have a five-minute window to get into the system and disable the locks."

"Well, nothing like a little pressure," Logan commented.  "How do we know this will guarantee the soldiers' safety?"

"We don't.  But it'll prevent Renfro from killing them all at once.  Once Eyes Only exposes her, she won't have time to deal with them individually."

Logan looked down at the small, square object in his hand.  This disk was the key, his best chance to put things right after they'd been horribly wrong for so long.

_If Max is in there...if she's still Max...she'll have less than five minutes to get out.  And I don't even know if she'll be in any shape to do it.  _He cleared his throat and spoke without looking up.  "Will I be able to access the security cameras and intercoms as well?"

"You're the computer genius," Lydecker said.  If Logan hadn't known better, he'd have said there was a smile in Lydecker's voice.  Instead he chalked it up to mild sarcasm.  "You'd know better than I would.  But the codes for those are on that disk, too."

"And there's no way to extend the window?"

"Only if you take time to disrupt the upgrade.  It's a trade-off."

Logan nodded.  He swallowed and looked up, checking his watch.  "What time do we leave?"

"Meet me here with your equipment at 0600 on Sunday."  Lydecker looked up from his papers and directly at Logan, who was clutching the disk as if it held the secret of life.  "Go home.  Crack the codes.  And get some sleep."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max lay on her bunk, staring up at the ceiling.  Her half-empty lunch tray was on the ground across the room.  She hadn't been allowed to take meals in the presence of other people in three months now.  Eating held no joy for her anymore.  It was mass-produced food, designed for nutrition rather than taste, and prepared with only the most clinical care.

_When I got out of Manticore the first time, I had no idea most people considered mealtime something to look forward to.  I learned quickly—even more so after the Pulse hit and nobody knew where their next meal was coming from or when they would get it.  I did all right.  Bought what I could and stole what I couldn't.  But when I met Logan...that's when I found out what a real dinner was.  Yeah, he's a good cook, and he could afford the good stuff—but somehow it tasted even better 'cause I knew he'd made it with me in mind.  God, I'd give anything to eat with him now._

Suddenly Max heard a faint crackle from the intercom speaker near her cell door.  She sat up, suspicious, and crept across the room.  The intercom was in the hallway, so she ducked below the barred window and pressed her ear to the door.

In a volume so low even Max had to strain to hear, voices were conversing in what sounded like a phone call.

"No cars around," a man reported.  "And no voices coming from inside."

"Check it out," Renfro demanded.  "They never showed up yesterday.  I want to know why."

There was a pause with some muffled noises while the man presumably entered whatever building he was inspecting.

Meanwhile, Max's eyes opened wide.  How was Renfro's phone call coming through to this intercom speaker?  Even with her extensive knowledge of telecommunications, she couldn't come up with an explanation for it happening without human intervention.   Had someone pressed the wrong button somewhere?

"Just dead bodies," the man spoke up.  "McGinnis...our guys.  No one else.  Looks like Lydecker double-crossed us."

"He knows our location," Renfro said.  Max was surprised to hear tension in the voice of the woman who had always been as smooth as silk.  "If Eyes Only broadcasts it, the Committee will bury us."

Max's heart leapt into her throat.  Eyes Only!  That meant he was still safe...so far...and still broadcasting.  Max hadn't even seen a TV in the past three months, let alone an Eyes Only hack, so this was welcome news.  And from the sound of things, there was the possibility that Lydecker could tell Logan where Manticore was...and then maybe...

Max refused to let herself speculate and instead concentrated on the phone call.

There was a slight pause, followed by Renfro asking, "What is it?"  Someone in the background must have said something.

"Uh...blood trail.  Couldn't have been one of our people; none of them walked out of here."

"Take a sample and run a full DNA assay.  Get it back here right away," Renfro told him.  The phone call ended abruptly, and before the dial tone could kick in again, the intercom became silent.

Max silently crossed the room to her bunk and sat down to ponder what had just happened.  Somebody had piped Renfro's conversation to Max's cell.  Whether it had been intentional or unintentional...there was no way to know.  But what she had just heard suddenly made her cell seem a little warmer.  Lydecker was still evading assassination, Logan was still safe and broadcasting, and the possibility of the two collaborating to expose Manticore was real enough to make Renfro sweat.  Max grinned at the thought.

She was still grinning when the stormtroopers burst in to take her away and punish her for trying to escape.


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N:  Thanks to Alaidh and Kasman for the beta._

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Max was unceremoniously dumped on the floor in her cell.

While she was usually able to bounce right up and fire back a smart remark or a punch, her body was currently too weak and sore to move.  She remained sprawled on her stomach. 

"What?" she asked sarcastically through cracked lips, her face low to the ground.  Her dark eyes glowered from behind the curtain of sweat-drenched hair clinging to her face.   "I don't get a week in the hole?"

"Director wanted you back here," one black-bereted soldier answered emotionlessly.  He and the two soldiers with him turned and locked the door behind them, leaving Max to lie panting on the stone ground.

Max had just enough strength to push her shoulders up off the floor and look around her cell.  The rat must have told them how she'd obtained her digging tool; her bunk had been removed and now there remained only a blanket and a pillow.  Further punishment for trying to escape, she supposed.

_Not like I haven't slept on the floor before,_ she thought defiantly, even though her aching muscles were crying out for rest.

Slowly twisting around, Max turned her gaze left to the east wall.  She tightened her jaw and lips at the expected but unwelcome sight.  Her escape route was completely sealed up.  Six weeks' worth of work...gone.

Her eyes settled on the heating vent on the floor in the northeast corner of the room.  It was four inches square, too small to crawl into the duct, but she knew from visual memory that the grate was of the regular variety and not reinforced.  Max gritted her teeth and inched along the floor until she reached the vent.  She used her body to block the view of it from the door.  Silently cursing Manticore for forcing her to trim her nails practically to the quick, she finally managed to work one fingertip under the edge of the grate and push up on it.  Several grunts later, the grate popped off in Max's hand, spotted with blood from the new slice in her finger pad.

Max painfully pulled herself over to the wall nearby and positioned her back to the door, so that anyone looking in would think she was simply leaning on the wall from exhaustion.  Despite her protesting body, she began to scrape the sharp corner of the grate against the mortar in the wall.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lydecker stepped onto the property of a lesser-known rental-car establishment in Sector 10.  Converted from a tiny beige house, the office was surrounded by a small parking lot containing mostly utility vehicles.  A bell tinkled when he opened the door and a skinny, agreeable-looking clerk came out to greet him at the counter.  Lydecker unzipped his jacket in the stifling heat of the small building.

"Sorry about that," the clerk apologized.  "Thermostat's stuck and the power company is closed for the weekend.  I can't even open the windows 'cause we had to seal and reinforce them after the riots last year."  He took a deep breath.  "I shouldn't complain, though.  At least I have heat.  Not everyone does these days."

"Times are tough," Lydecker agreed, nodding.  He looked around.

"What can I do for you?" the clerk asked pleasantly.

"I need to pick up a van that my associate rented.  Name is Ericson."

The clerk checked the hand-written register in front of him.  "Ericson...right here.  It's all gassed up and ready for you.  I just need some ID."

Lydecker pulled out a small card and set it on the counter.

The clerk examined it and shook his head.  "I'm sorry; I should have said I needed _photo ID."_

"The sector police confiscated it this morning.  I made the mistake of trying to pass through a checkpoint when the guard was having a bad day.  Won't this do?"

"Sorry."  The clerk looked truly regretful.

Lydecker pulled a crisp bill out of his jacket pocket and set it on the counter over the card.  He saw the clerk's eyes bulge upon noticing the large denomination of the bill.  "I'm sure you understand the difficulty in getting confiscated property back from the sector police."

"It can be tough," the clerk nodded slowly.  He paused for a minute, then raised his head to look at Lydecker.  "It's even tougher to replace a van if someone impersonating a customer makes off with it."

Lydecker laid an even larger denomination on the counter in front of the clerk.

The clerk quickly pocketed both bills and wrote a check mark in his register.  He turned to a pegboard hanging on the wall behind him and selected one set of keys.  "Your associate paid for a weekend rate, so it's due back on Monday," he told Lydecker.

Lydecker nodded and took the keys.  "I appreciate your cooperation."

"I do what I can," the clerk nodded, unconsciously patting the pocket where he had placed the bills.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

That night Max was summoned to Manticore's security control room.  Still sore, but now able to move freely, Max kept her head up and her face hostile.  The techs in the room worked as if they didn't hear a word of the conversation while Renfro confronted her.

"Who is Eyes Only?" Renfro asked for the millionth time.

Max remained silent.

"I need to know.  And it's in your own best interest to tell me."

"That's the biggest load you've fed me all week," Max sneered.

"You don't understand what's at stake here, 452.  If Eyes Only isn't stopped, there are gonna be news vans parked outside the perimeter."  Renfro got in Max's face and lowered her voice.  "The Committee is not going to allow the existence of this program to be exposed.  It'll jeopardize its other operations."  She turned and paced back across the room. 

_Other operations?  Like what?  _Max kept all signs of actual interest out of her voice.  "Guess I'm supposed to be curious and ask what that means."

"It means that I lock down the cells and I burn this place to the ground with you and everyone else inside."

Max rolled her eyes.  _And bite the hand that feeds you?  You wouldn't have the balls._

"Oh, you don't believe me?"  Renfro was speaking quickly and forcefully now.  "On paper, this place is a V.A. hospital.  Anybody comes looking, all they're gonna find is the remains of a tragic fire that killed all its patients.  It's called plausible deniability."

"It's called bluffing."

Renfro got in Max's face again.  Max suppressed the desire to punch her.

"Look, you need to understand something.  You are nothing but meat to me.  This—"  Renfro held up a small disk.  "This is what matters.  I could start over anywhere.  I just put all the data that we have accumulated into my briefcase, lock the door, light the match, and kiss your transgenic ass goodbye."

She approached Max threateningly.  "You make me find Eyes Only by myself...he is a dead man.  Help me...there's a deal to be made.  Think about it."

_Like I'd ever deal with you,_ Max snorted inwardly.

A man entered the room and showed Renfro a paper file.  "We ran the blood sample we found at the warehouse," he said.

"Ah," Renfro smiled, glancing quickly at the paper and then addressing Max.  "Time's up."

Max inwardly began to panic.  The guy she'd overheard talking to Renfro that morning had mentioned a blood trail.  Could it have been Logan's blood?  Could Renfro be seeing Eyes Only's very identity on paper right before her eyes?

The thought made Max's blood run cold.

At Renfro's nod, a pair of soldiers who had been standing guard grabbed Max and yanked her out of the room.  She took one glance back and saw Renfro frowning at the paper that she now held in her hands.

_If you touch him, you bitch, I'll kill you before you even see me coming._

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The sound of a drawer slamming shut filled the penthouse.

Logan began cleaning his pistol, carefully but quickly.  He was tense, looking often at his computer to check on its progress.  The code-cracking software was working hard, but it still wasn't anywhere near done.  The strokes with which Logan cleaned the barrel grew quicker and tighter.

Lydecker had called a few minutes before with good news and bad news.  Good news—his contact had tested the audio system at Manticore and the test had worked; it would be possible to overtake the intercom system if time so allowed.  Bad news—the timetable had been moved up.  The system upgrade had been rescheduled for the next evening.  Logan would have to crack the codes tonight and be ready to hit the road in the morning.

He carefully inspected his gun after cleaning it.  He didn't plan on having to use it, as the plan was to hack into Manticore's system from just outside its grounds, but he had no delusions that the mission was guaranteed to go off perfectly.  A thousand things could go wrong.  If worse came to worst, he intended to be ready.

Logan opened the desk drawer again and removed two boxes of bullets.  He loaded the clip and inserted it into the gun with a loud snap.  Then he placed the gun and the extra ammunition into a small gym bag sitting nearby on the desk.  After testing a set of communication earpieces, he put them in the bag as well and checked the computer again.  Still going.  Manticore was tough to crack—tougher, even, than the thug with the highest security Eyes Only had ever nailed.  

The lights dimmed, then went out.

"Damn it," Logan swore.  Of all times to lose power.

By the light of his computer monitor, he got out his laptop and backed up his files onto it, just in case this brownout outlasted the capacity of his desktop's UPS.  Short power outages did not exist in Seattle.  Now Logan was even more anxious for the code-breaking software to finish; he couldn't afford to wait for the power to return.

With a tense exhalation of air, he withdrew a flashlight from a drawer.  He turned it on, placed it facing forward on his lap, and wheeled into the kitchen for the matches.  He moved quickly.  Soon the whole apartment was aglow in candles, and this time Logan did not allow himself to become wistful about the candlelight he used to share with Max.  Doing so would only distract him and take up time.  There was work to be done.

Logan retrieved his exoskeleton from its stand in the training room.  He needed to check it over to make sure it would not fail the following night.  While he would have to wait until he had more light to inspect the wiring, he could tighten the screws and check the hard plastic for any cracks.  After a detour to the computer to check on its progress, Logan decided to follow the watched-pot philosophy and work in the other room.  He deposited the exoskeleton near the large windows in the living room, made a second trip for a couple of tools, then parked in front of the glass.

Outside, the whole of Seattle lay dark before him.  The windows in the building across the street twinkled with light from candles and lanterns.  Some glowed blue with the light of battery-powered TVs.  Above, the sky was dark, the stars obscured by clouds.

_Will the power still be out tomorrow night?_  Logan wondered with concern.

He hoped the answer was no.  His apartment needed to have power the next night so he could expose Manticore and Renfro.  He had already recorded the hack, and he would be activating it from his laptop in Montana, but it would be broadcast from his desktop.  His laptop wasn't configured to avoid triangulation during an Eyes Only hack like his desktop setup was.

Logan sighed.  If all went smoothly the next night, Manticore would be exposed, the people inside would be safe, and Max...if Max was in there, maybe she could get out.  If she was capable.  If she still wanted to.

He shuddered at that thought.  Tomorrow night he would find out.

"_One way or another, after tomorrow the world's going to be a different place for me…for both of us_," she had said once, three months ago.  Her voice rang in his ears now as he looked outside.  The moon peeked out from a break in the clouds.

Logan wondered, as he often did, whether Max could see the moon from wherever she was.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Max, for her part, was struggling against the bonds that held her in place.  Manticore techs placed a gag in her mouth and injected something into her arm.

"You're going to help me whether you want to or not," Renfro whispered to her.

_Bite me,_ Max wanted to say around the gag in her mouth.  The bonds, designed to withstand the strength of an X5, weren't budging.  She forced herself to pause in her struggles and take a deep breath through her nose.

Renfro aimed a laser into Max's right eye and smiled.  Then the torture started.


	15. Chapter 15

_A/N:  I promised in my summary that the virus, cult, etc, do not exist in my scenario.  I'm keeping that promise.  Trust me.  :)  This is by no means the last chapter; there will probably be two to four more, depending on length.  _

_Thanks to Alaidh and Kasman for the beta._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max sat up suddenly, breathing hard.

"You okay?" said a voice somewhere to her left.  Max focused her eyes and was none too pleased to see that Alec was in her cell again.  "Guess they finally got it out of you, huh?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Max said.

"I heard they were sending an X5 to take out some reporter friend of yours."

_Oh, God...Logan!  But how did they know?_  Max frantically combed her memory for any capitulations or weaknesses.  She found none.  But she couldn't be sure, and until she was, Logan wasn't safe.  How long ago had she given up the goods?  How long did Logan have before the X5 found him?

Max knew only one thing for certain.  She had to get out of there and get to Logan—immediately!

With Alec and Joshua's help, Max exited the building through Joshua's window and made a break for the fence.   She leaped over it.  Joshua took out the X7 guarding it, and she was free.  Free!

_Finally!  _Her face broke into a wide grin.  _I'm outta here!_

Her grin faded quickly.  How much of Logan's time had she spent filing window bars and evading X7s?

The thought of Logan facing a Manticore assassin nearly doubled her speed as she ran to the nearest sign of civilization.  It didn't take her long to break into and hot-wire the first car she saw.  The old Ford Mustang's acceleration capabilities left something to be desired, but it moved quickly once she passed the highway's speed limit.

Max ditched the car a couple of blocks away from Logan's building half an hour later.  Not caring to wait for the elevator or risk a power outage in mid-ascent, she ran up the stairs to the penthouse.  She listened at Logan's door for a few moments.  No voices—did that mean she'd gotten there on time, or did it mean she was too late?

She took a chance and opened the unlocked door.  She crept toward the computer room, approaching from the rear, and stood there.  Max had no idea what to say.  The sight of him after all this time struck her speechless.

Logan sensed her presence and turned around.  Astounded, he slowly stood up and approached her.  "Max..."

"We gotta get you out of here," Max told him.  "They're coming to get you."

Logan didn't even seem to hear what she said.  He kissed her.  For a moment, she forgot about the assassin and kissed him back.

Then it all went to hell.

Logan collapsed.  He broke out in hives.  His breathing became labored.  "Logan!" Max cried, panicking.  She cradled him, desperate to find out what was wrong.  "What's happening?"

"You killed him."

Alec appeared, gun in hand, and informed her exactly what was happening.  She had infected Logan with a deadly virus as soon as they had touched.  Max quickly pulled her hands away.

_She_ was the assassin.  And if she didn't get back to Manticore and get the antigen, Logan was going to die.

Max fought Alec to submission, set off the hack that revealed Manticore's location, and headed back out in the Mustang.  The complex was burning.  _Please tell me the antigen's still in there,_ she thought, the fear that it had been destroyed by fire consuming her mind as she ran down the hill.

Inside, the person who could show her the antigen was packing a briefcase.  "I'm not leaving without her," Renfro was saying.

Max grabbed her by the neck.  Only her desperation to save Logan prevented her from snapping it.  "What a coincidence, 'cause I'm not leaving without you."

She dragged Renfro into a lab.  Max had to slam her into the wall, but eventually Renfro handed her the antigen.  It was like gold in her hands.  Max was about to demand a virus cure when a security guard fired.  Renfro ate the bullet.

"This virus thing you put in me—how do I get rid of it?" Max asked her.

"You can't."

_Oh, God!  Please don't let that be true..._

Max didn't have time to press for more information; Renfro died moments later.  Max ran out of the complex and zoomed back to Seattle on the highway.  She had to get there in time.

There was only enough antigen for one dose.

During the long hours it took for Logan to recover, Max realized the implications of the night's events.  Her touch was deadly.  She was a danger to him.  She couldn't kiss him, couldn't hug him, couldn't even check his forehead for fever.

She could barely look him in the eyes.  While she couldn't help sneaking glances at him, as if to make sure he was finally okay, the look of longing in his eyes nearly broke her heart.

"You don't have to stand all the way over there," he said, pleading.  "Come closer."

But she dared not even go near him.  She was poison.

All night she thought about the soldiers she had released.  She found out the next day that someone had tried to kill them, and she had to go save them, but she hadn't realized she'd be saving freaks like _this._

The thing stood in the cage next to hers.  It stood like a man, was shaped vaguely like a man, but it was a big lizard.  Scaly skin, ugly nose, eyes with double lids.  It didn't talk—it clicked.  And it ate bugs.

Max shivered in disbelief.  This couldn't be happening.  But there the thing was, reminding her that she was nothing more than something Manticore cooked up.

The next night, she was reminded again.  She tasted Logan's sauce, out of habit, and then put the spoon back in the pan without thinking.  She nearly killed him again.

"You know, it's bad enough they made it so we can't touch.  Now we can't even have dinner," she said angrily, her throat closing up.  They were cruel.  She'd known this growing up, but it had never hurt so much.

She had to leave.  She couldn't take it.

 "I can't do this," she told Logan.  "It's too hard."  And it was.  It was too hard to be around him and know that she had to be careful all the time, that she couldn't hold him, that the closest she could get was the other side of the glass.  It hurt.

For a day or two, it looked like the pain might ease; a Manticore tech was this close to a cure.  But he disappeared without finishing the job.  He took off as soon as Max paid him to save Alec's life.  Her decision ruined her one opportunity to get rid of the virus and be with Logan.  There was no way of knowing whether there would ever be another chance.  She had _chosen_ to be poison.

She couldn't really blame Logan when she found out that he had grown closer to another woman.  After all, Max couldn't be with him.  But it still hurt.  

He let the other woman come and go in his apartment.  He wanted Max to get her out of jail.  He went to Crash with her.  He'd never wanted to go to Crash with Max, but he went with _Asha!  _Max couldn't shake the feeling that she was losing him.

She really did lose Zack.  He tried to kill Logan.  Max had to electrocute her own brother.

"I need him, Logan.  Now more than ever.  I don't want to lose him," she said later, waiting in the basement of the hospital.  "But I can't risk losing you." 

She had to send Zack away.

Now he was on a farm somewhere with no idea who he was, all because she let her emotions dictate her decisions.  It was her fault.

Just like it was her fault that a gill girl got captured by White.  Max had let her out of Manticore, then ruined her mate's chance to free her.  Max had to go save her. She was always having to do that.  She was responsible for all these transgenics who weren't even like people.  They had gills.  They squealed.  They laid _eggs!_

As if that weren't enough, Max almost lost Logan again.  It turned out to be chicken pox instead of the virus, but Max had to be more careful.  Logan had tended to Max when she was sick, long ago, but she couldn't do the same for him now.  She had to back off and watch Asha take care of him instead.

For a little while it looked like the horror in her life would take a back seat to the weirdness in it. The Manticore symbol turned out to be thousands of years old.  White babbled something about being the future.  A predictor Manticore had cooked up had a crush on Max.  But then the predictor got killed, and White killed his wife, and the horror returned.

Max helped a tech find a temporary cure for the virus.  She had twelve hours to be with Logan.  But another Manticore _thing_ was out there hurting people, and she was responsible for it.  The one time when she would have been able to spend the night in Logan's arms without killing him, and she had to spend it chasing a monster.

"What happens tomorrow, Logan?" Max asked while they sat wrapped in goop.  "We still have the nomlies, and Manticore, and all fates against us.  I shoulda known that one night was just too damn much to ask."

"How much time do we have left?"

"Not enough."

"Oh, Max..." he sighed.  "It wouldn't have been enough anyway.  We knew that."

Their time was up.  Their chance was gone.

Logan couldn't take it anymore.  "We can't keep doing this."  He told her he loved her and then he walked away.

Tears sprang to her eyes.  Her throat closed up.  She couldn't speak.  There was nothing she could do or say to make it better.  She was poison.

He didn't speak to her for days.  He wouldn't even take her calls.  He did save her life when she needed him, but he was so distant.  Even when they were safely back at her apartment, he wouldn't talk to her.  He wouldn't even stick around.

"Take care of yourself, Max," was his parting comment.  It sounded like goodbye.

Maybe it was.

The circus continued.  A reverse vampire told her she was a freak.  Joshua got stoned.  Alec became Normal's golden boy.  A PSYOPs unit went around manipulating people's minds.  White was part of some cult—a crazy cult with snakes and makeup and telekinetic powers.  Things were getting weirder by the minute.

Then they got a whole lot worse.  Logan almost died—again.  It took a blood transfusion from Joshua to save him.

It was her fault.  She was poison.

She had to leave him.

"Do I get a vote?" Logan asked, desperate.  "It is my life on the line."

Max's response ended in a whisper. "So, what, you end up dead and I get to spend the rest of my life knowing it was my fault?  Pass." 

The virus was deadly and they weren't going to find a cure.  The only way she could keep from killing Logan was to walk away.  She couldn't see him ever again.

He thought Max and Alec were together.

"I needed to talk to you, so I came by your apartment...and I saw him leaving," he told her that night in his apartment.  Max was speechless, so Logan second-guessed himself.  "I—I mean, if I've got it wrong, just say so."

When Max still didn't respond, second-guessing gave way to pleading.

"Tell me it's not true."  There was fear and desperation in his drunken eyes.

She wanted so badly to reassure him that it wasn't true, but he wouldn't let her leave.  He wasn't being careful.  If this kept up, he would get killed.  She had to make him stay away from her.

So Max lied to him.

"I can't."

He stopped in his tracks at that.  She had to drive the final stake in before she caved.  "It's over.  We're done.  Get used to it."

She could practically hear his heart breaking.  It almost drowned out the sound of her own.

She didn't have much time to deal with it before transgenics got exposed on TV.  Now their secret was out for the world to see.  Joshua even had to break up with his girlfriend and isolate himself again.  The whole city wanted him dead.

She was glad to accept Logan's help with Joshua, but in the end, she had to push him away.  She had to make him think she didn't want him.  It worked, but she stood for a long time on the side of the road, longingly watching him drive away.

That night, she found out White killed Annie.  Everyone thought Joshua or an X5 did it.  And the one person who could have comforted Max thought she didn't love him anymore.

She tried to distract herself.  She went over to Joshua's often, taking care of him and trying to comfort him after Annie's death.  She went to Crash with Original Cindy some nights, staying home other nights and allowing her girl to dispense manicures and advice.  She even worked a lot of overtime, surprising Normal.

But even those small comforts didn't last.

"You can't go in there," Alec told her as she was about to enter Jam Pony.  "Normal and Sketchy are all trippin' about your little stunt you pulled yesterday.  Go to Joshua's."

She did, only to find Joshua destroying his paintings and packing up his few other possessions.

"I'm tired of being alone, Max," he told her, and when she tried to tell him Terminal City was dangerous, he yelled at her.  Then he left.

She went straight home and started packing.

"What do you mean, leaving town?" Original Cindy protested.

"White's on my ass 24/7, I can't go back to work, I can't see Logan, and Joshua said he doesn't need me anymore.  Why am I staying here?"  
  


"I'm here, for one."

"Yeah, and one of these days, White and his men are going to bust through that door, and you're liable to get caught in the crossfire."

"You gonna call Logan and tell him you're going?" Original Cindy asked her later, as Max was about to leave.  Max picked up the phone, but decided it was better to make a clean break.  She hadn't spoken to Logan in over a week; hearing his voice would make it harder for her to leave and keep him safe.  She put the phone back without dialing.

It turned out Max wasn't the only one White wanted to hurt.  He threatened another woman's family to get to her.  He probably would have killed them both if Logan hadn't come to the rescue.  As it was, Sam's family's happy life in San Francisco was ruined because of her, and so were Logan's apartment and Eyes Only equipment.  Max's pursuer had destroyed it.

Max offered to be Logan's cat burglar again, but she never really got a chance to do much burgling.  She had to spend a lot of time in Terminal City and keep an eye on the freaks who lived there.  She was the one who had let them out into the world.

Life got weirder when markings appeared on her skin.  No one knew what they meant, except for White.  Sandeman was his father.  Worse, Sandeman had started Manticore.

"Who do you think made you?" CJ asked pointedly, rolling his eyes as if she were stupid.

Max tried to tell Logan about it, but he cut off the conversation when he heard Alec in the background of the phone call.  She could tell he was hurting.  It was all she could do to keep from blurting out, "I love you."  It would have been so easy to say it now, when she was across town, where she couldn't touch him and kill him.  But if she said it, sooner or later she'd go back to him, and he would be dead.  So instead she hit the button and tried to concentrate on the transgenics.

It was just as well.  Two days later, Joshua and Alec ended up having to take Jam Pony hostage in order to avoid arrest.  Max was responsible for them, so she had to go and help.

Now everyone at Jam Pony knew what she really was—a freak.

The transgenics got their demands, but while they were walking outside with their "hostages," White's snipers fired on them.  They had to dive back inside Jam Pony and hide.  Cece was killed.

"This is all my fault," she told Logan.  "I let these people loose in the world.  But there's no place for us out here.  There's no place anywhere."

White sent in a bunch of cult commandos.  There was a huge fight in Jam Pony's upper rooms.  Max and her friends managed to subdue White and his guys, but the transgenics had to be sneaked out of Jam Pony.  They were still wanted by the police for taking hostages.  They had to flee to Terminal City.

They were stuck there, alone.

Max was glad Logan was there, but she was afraid for him.  Any day now he could drop dead from an accidental touch.  Within a week, he developed a chronic cough, as did Sketchy and Original Cindy.  She worried that the toxins would kill them if the siege didn't end soon.

Then the army bombed the complex.  It was leveled.  Only because Max and her friends happened to be in a basement at the time did they survive.  Half the transgenics in Terminal City died.

It was her fault.  She'd let them out into the world.

After the siege, life in Seattle sort of got back to normal for a little while.  Max went back to her apartment and Jam Pony.  Logan rebuilt Eyes Only.  Sketchy became a little less annoying about his tabloid articles.

White hunted down the rest of the freaks, and eventually, he came for Max too.

Max was home sick from work that day.  Nobody was sure what bug had managed to penetrate an X5's immune system; she figured it was a mutated strain from Terminal City.  Logan was keeping her company.

White burst in the door.  Logan, whose gun was downstairs in his car, was unable to stop him.  White knocked Logan out, bound his hands and feet, and turned to Max.

Original Cindy came home from work minutes later and saw Max fighting White.  White landed blow after blow.  Max managed to shove him a few feet away, but the bug had weakened her, and she was obviously losing the fight.  Original Cindy ducked behind the kitchen island.  She quietly grasped a heavy cast-iron pan and crept up behind White.

Before she could hit him in the head with the pan, he turned around and shot her.  Original Cindy dropped to the ground, dead.

"You bastard!" Max yelled wildly, and launched herself at him.

Logan regained consciousness while they were fighting.  Bound tightly, he was only able to watch as Max lost ground.

White kicked her in the stomach.  She staggered backward, lost her balance, and instinctively put out a hand to brace herself as she fell.

It touched Logan's skin.

"Oh, my God!" Max gasped, horrified.  She hadn't been careful enough.  White yanked her arms behind her back and paused in his fighting for a moment to enjoy her terror.

She watched helplessly as Logan broke out in hives and struggled for breath.

"Max..." he managed to choke out.  His eyes remained locked with hers until he could keep them open no longer.

"Logan!"  

He died right in front of her.

"NO!" Max screamed.  "LOGAN!"  She repeated his name, over and over, sobbing.  "Logan...oh, God, no...Logan...Logan..."

White overpowered her and took her away.  She didn't fight him.  It didn't matter anymore.

The transgenics she had let out into the world had suffered and died.  She was the reason for Original Cindy's death.  And the person she loved most in the world was dead by her own hand.

It was her fault.  She was poison.

She'd killed Logan.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Max's screams echoed through the halls.

The soldiers in the building lifted their heads and looked at each other in wonder; insubordinate soldiers were usually rehabilitated behind soundproof walls.  The guards and techs continued doing their jobs as if they heard nothing.  The mistakes in the basement shook their heads in sympathy.

A bespectacled young tech walked briskly down a hallway.  He stopped in front of a pair of closed doors and pressed a button.  Moments later, the doors opened, and he stepped through them.  The screaming became muffled as the doors slid closed behind him.

"The hallucinogen has run its course," he reported to the only other occupant of the room.  "Preliminary evaluation indicates that subject will be ready for questioning shortly."

On the other side of the desk, Elizabeth Renfro leaned back and smiled.

"Excellent."


	16. Chapter 16

_Thanks to Alaidh and Kasman for the beta._

_._

* * *

.

The next morning was for the most part gray, with only an occasional glimpse of the early-morning sun. Fog rolling in from the waterfront made it necessary for Logan to turn on his fog lamps as he drove a winding route through the city and into the storage complex at the edge of town. He eased the Aztek through an open door and pulled to a stop. His headlights revealed a lone figure standing in the otherwise dimly lit space before he turned them off.

Lydecker looked up briefly before returning his attention to the map he was studying. "There's construction on I-90," he said without greeting when Logan got out of the car. "No telling what kind of delays it would involve. We should take State Route 10 to circumnavigate it."

"Think it'll slow us down much?" Logan asked, glancing at the map over Lydecker's shoulder.

"Twenty minutes."

Logan nodded. "Not bad for a ten- or twelve-hour drive." He lifted his head and saw a dirty white van parked nearby. "Got everything in there?"

At Lydecker's nod, Logan walked back to his own car and opened the rear hatch. Inside lay two duffel bags, his laptop case, his spare wheelchair, and a large cooler. He transferred each into the van while Lydecker finished examining the map.

Logan had just retrieved an extra jacket from the passenger seat and locked the car when the sound of footsteps crunched on the gravel outside. He and Lydecker both looked toward the open door. Lydecker readied his right hand on the pistol in his left inside coat pocket. Neither uttered a word.

The footsteps drew closer. Then Syl rounded the corner into the doorway.

The two men relaxed visibly.

"Hey," she greeted Logan with a smile. Her nod to Lydecker was less warm.

"Glad you made it," Logan said as he checked his watch. "Another twenty minutes and we'd have had to leave without you."

"I got held up in Elmer City." She dropped her bag to the ground. She wore a denim jacket over a tank top and looked just the same as she had a few months before, with her long, blond hair draped partly over her face. She took in Logan's worn-down appearance wordlessly.

He barely noticed. "You could've called."

"I don't carry a cell phone," she answered, shaking the hair out of her eyes, "for the same reason Max didn't. And I don't make pay phone calls in transit."

_Leaves a trail,_ Logan thought, nodding. He sneaked a glance at Lydecker. The latter was also nodding slightly, with a hint of a smile carefully pressed between his lips. _Proud of his kids,_ Logan thought. He turned back, hiding his disgust.

"You get a hold of Krit?" he asked. He'd left messages for Krit and Syl at their contact number, but only Syl had answered.

"Yeah, finally," she said, puffing a breath into the wisps of hair framing her face. "He'll meet us in Moses Lake on his way down." She didn't say where he would be coming from, although Logan knew from his previous call to her that Krit's last known location had been Kamloops, British Columbia. Neither was willing to give Lydecker any more information than he needed to know.

"That'll delay our ETA," Lydecker said. "But it's better than waiting for him to get to Seattle."

"Anything's better than waiting." Syl picked up her bag again and slung it over her shoulder. "Let's get this bus on the road."

.

* * *

.

Renfro stepped into the control room linked to Max's room by a two-way mirror. The screaming had stopped abruptly halfway through her walk from her office, and all was now silent.

She stepped to the window to peer through. Max lay slumped and sweaty in the restraints, eyes closed. Her long hair hung limply across her face as well as off the sides of the table. Her regular breaths belied the obvious stress she had experienced.

"She's unconscious," Renfro said in an accusatory tone as she turned to the lab-coated woman seated behind her in the control room.

"Yes, ma'am." The tech, who looked to be in her early forties, raised her gaze from the bank of monitors in front of her. She looked at Renfro emotionlessly through her glasses. "She will be for some time."

"Your colleague said she would be ready for questioning."

"This is the method Major Andrews recommended, ma'am," the tech told her. "Since the subject is unaccustomed to sleeping for long stretches, keeping her unconscious for an extended period of time will increase her disorientation when she wakes up. After that, he recommends two to three hours of total isolation to increase stress levels..."

"...let her reinforce the scenario presented by the hallucination, and maintain the compliance she demonstrated before passing out," Renfro finished with a smile. "I'm familiar with the concept."

She approached the window to look once again at Max. "Contact me before waking her up. I want to take full advantage of her disorientation."

.

* * *

.

"Got it," Logan said with satisfaction.

Syl raised her head. Lydecker glanced at him in the rear-view mirror. Logan's words had broken a miles-long silence.

"Got what?" she asked.

"The fourth digit in the code for the outer firewall," Logan answered. "Just in case Lydecker's guy doesn't come through with the manual switch." He interlocked his fingers and turned them outward, stretching his arms in front of him until his elbows cracked. He continued to loosen his joints, shrugging his shoulders this way and that.

"How many are there? And how long will the rest take?"

"Sixteen total. And there's no way to tell," he answered soberly. "First four took an hour each. Everything goes according to plan, we won't need them. But...you never know."

They all paused, the previous Manticore raid on their minds. They'd had a plan then, too, and things had gone sideways. _This time will be different,_ Logan vowed silently, and not just because this time he'd already lost Max. This time, if they failed, there would be no second chance. Renfro would destroy all of Manticore...and Max...before she allowed one.

"Moses Lake exit, five miles," Lydecker announced after clearing his throat.

Syl glanced at the seats inside the van and her brows knitted, as if she were noticing the mess for the first time. "There's nowhere to sit," she observed, tensely moving the various papers and snack wrappers littering the seats to make room for another passenger.

Logan checked his watch. "We've got time before we're due to meet Krit outside of town. Pull into the rest stop right here."

"You haven't drunk anything the whole time we've been on the road," Syl said to him, surprised.

"It doesn't matter," Logan said flatly as he kept his eyes on his laptop screen.

Syl shrugged.

Lydecker steered into the rightmost lane. The van exited the highway and bumped over the cracked pavement in the parking lot, coming to a stop at the far end.

"You two go on ahead," Logan said without his fingers missing a beat. "I'll watch the van."

When Lydecker returned ten minutes later, informing Logan that Syl was taking a stress-relieving run on the rest stop grounds, Logan took his turn going inside the dilapidated building.

He was snapping his jacket pocket closed and turning on the water at the sink when the sound of sirens wailed outside. They grew in intensity until he could tell they were arriving at the rest stop.

Alarmed, Logan pressed his body against the wall beside the men's room exit. He took a deep breath, slipped out his gun, and peered cautiously through the glass door into the lobby.

"Hey," said a voice behind him, and he looked back. Krit was standing behind him.

"Hey," Logan said, out of reflex more than anything. "What are you doing here? Where were you?"

"Came in the service door," Krit answered. "Pissed off a few border guards and ended up a wanted man."

Logan nodded, matching Krit's natural seriousness. He didn't want to tangle with the authorities any more than Krit did. "Up in the vent. I got you covered."

While Krit made quick work of removing the grate from the air vent and climbing in, Logan pocketed his gun. He checked the stalls until he found one with a toilet that hadn't been flushed and quickly ducked inside, closing the door behind him.

Seconds later, police burst in the outer door and began searching the building. Three entered the men's room. One checked under the sinks while two opened the stall doors.

"Hey!" Logan yelled in protest when one cop opened his door.

The cop quickly shut the door and trained his weapon on it. "You've got 30 seconds to finish what you're doing and get your ass out here."

Clothing rustled, followed by a flush, and seconds later Logan stepped out. "What's going on?" he asked, his face the very picture of a nervous bystander.

The cops' faces fell when they realized he wasn't their fugitive. After checking behind him in the stall for any extraneous occupants, they lowered their weapons.

"Fugitive on the loose," one of them said. "Dark hair, kind of a small mouth. You seen him?"

"No, sir."

"Yeah, well, keep an eye out. Let's go," the cop said to the others. They nodded and headed for the door.

After a few moments, Logan checked outside. He waited for the police cars to leave the rest stop before turning back. "They're gone."

"Thanks," said the voice in the air duct.

"So's the van," Logan added as Krit climbed out. "My guess is Lydecker took off to stay under the radar."

"He'll be back. Nothing gets in front of the mission." Krit jumped to the ground and dusted himself off. "I saw Syl up a tree on my way in. She's all right."

He took a moment to look at Logan, whose physical bearing reflected his sleepless night as well as the accumulated pain of the past few months. "How you doing?"

The sentence Logan had been about to speak caught inside his throat. The voice was so similar to Max's, uttering a question she had asked so many times, that he was reminded anew how much he missed her.

"All right," he finally said. Then he added, with unusual candor, "considering."

Krit nodded. "I hear you. Soon as Lydecker gets back, we'll get moving."

.

* * *

.

Renfro strode into Major Andrews' office. "It's been ten hours. I want her awake."

"It's not advantageous," he answered without looking up.

"The hell it isn't," Renfro snapped, beginning to pace. "Every hour we wait is another hour for Eyes Only to get information."

"How would he do that?" Andrews said, a slight snicker in his voice. "We've got several layers of security and an isolated location. Not even our employees are allowed to leave the base. Total secrecy."

Renfro interrupted her pacing to charge his desk. "We don't have total secrecy anymore. Lydecker's out there somewhere with him."

A tiny twitch, too small for her to see, tugged at the corners of Andrews' mouth before he pulled his features into a look of surprise. "Colonel Lydecker's alive? How'd he escape the trap?"

"That's none of your concern," Renfro answered. She leaned down until her face was in his and spoke calmly but authoritatively. "Your concern is the girl in that room. Wake her up. Now."

After a moment of staring into her eyes, Andrews nodded and stood up.

.

* * *

.

Max awoke with a start.

Her mind formed the thought, _Where am I?_ before her eyes flew around in an effort to get her bearings. An unsuccessful attempt to move her head and look around made her realize it was held tightly in place.

She was strapped to a table in what must have been an isolation room. It was artificially lit and there were no echoes from inside or outside, save that of the machines she could hear below her recording her heartbeat and brainwaves. The table had been raised almost to ceiling level; there were about 24 inches of space above her nose.

Unable to determine her location, Max combed her memory. _White,_ she remembered. _That's where I am. White got me because I killed Logan._

_Logan!_

Her body sagged.

Now she remembered everything. She had gotten the transgenics killed. She had gotten her best friend killed. She had killed Logan, repeated his name over and over, screamed and screamed until she had passed out. Now Logan was dead, and so was Original Cindy, and her life was over.

It would be mere minutes before White came to demand Ray's whereabouts. She would give it to him, and then he would kill her, and it would all be over. She wouldn't hurt anyone ever again.

She felt herself letting go.

Conscious thought ceased as Max gazed blankly into space.

.

* * *

.

The sun hung low and red in the sky as the dirty white van pulled to a stop next to a ten-foot concrete wall. Foliage obscured the view of the van from the road. All four occupants stared at the wall. Logan's gaze remained trained on it even after the others had begun moving around.

Inside that wall, somewhere, was Max.

Maybe.

There was no guarantee that she was even still alive, Logan knew. And even if she was, there was always the possibility she'd been turned.

Max was the strongest person he knew, mentally and physically, but even she was vulnerable. She'd made that clear early on in their friendship. Nobody was invincible. If caught, she would reveal what she knew...she would break...she would submit...and she would be one of them.

It had been her greatest fear.

The foliage blurred as his eyes lost focus. How long would it take? Max had been at Manticore for three months now. While Zack had held out that long, once upon a time, it had taken less than five months for Brin to become the soldier Manticore had always wanted her to be. It could have happened overnight, for all Max and Logan knew.

They'd talked about it one night during a brownout, a few days after Tinga had turned herself in. Max had been unusually pensive. The darkness always seemed to bring the demons closer.

_FLASHBACK:_

_"In any interrogation, the weaker ones break first," Max had said as her eyes gazed into the candlelight._

_"And you think that's Brin."_

_"I have no idea. I never got a chance to get to know Brin after the escape. She could have been lonely, always on the run like Zack, only without us others to tend to. She could have had a hard life. Maybe...maybe Manticore was easier."_

_She had paused._

_"Or maybe she was the strongest one of all, and the rest of us wouldn't even stand a chance," she'd said abruptly, throwing back the rest of her wine to soften the sudden hardness in her voice._

_END FLASHBACK_

Logan looked at the wall again, focusing now, and blinked away tears. He'd wanted so badly then to reassure her that she was stronger than Brin could ever have been, that Manticore would never catch her, that her future was her own. But, of course, he'd had no such guarantee. All he had been able to do was nod.

Tonight he was doing more. She was in there now, and that couldn't be erased. But he'd be damned if he let them keep her.

.

* * *

.

Hours passed. Max's eyes drifted dully across the ceiling. She thought of nothing. It was merely a way to pass time while she awaited her impending fate.

Slowly it occurred to her that the ceiling looked familiar. There was a long, jagged crack in the plaster and a faint water spot in one corner that probably only she could see. Unconsciously her eyes slid over to the far end of the room. Just inside her field of vision was a miniscule piece of chipped paint.

_I've been here before,_ she thought, her first coherent thought in hours. It came unbidden, from some deep recess of her mind. _But when?_

Despite herself, Max struggled to actively ponder the question. She'd been in this room...spent long hours looking at this ceiling...restrained...

Flashes came to her and she realized where she'd seen the ceiling before. _Manticore._

_No, that's not right. Manticore burned. Months ago._

_This must be White's cell, then._

_What does it matter?_ another part of her asked bitterly. _Everyone's dead. I killed them. It's time for me to die too._

The faces of those she had loved, staring at her as they died, swam before her. Max closed her eyes, pain washing over her before she willed herself back into nothingness.

.

* * *

.

"How long until they take the firewall offline?" Krit asked.

Logan glanced at his watch. It was 9:00 PM. "Two hours," he answered. He raised his eyes back to his laptop screen and frowned. "I've got the subsystem codes cracked and ready to go, but my program's still working on the last four digits for the firewall."

"Let's hope we don't need 'em," Syl said tensely. "I'm more concerned that this upgrade may start sooner than scheduled. That ever happen?" she asked Lydecker.

"It's rare, but not unheard of," he answered. "I want you in position by 2200 just in case. Manticore's intrusion detection system will discover the hack within a few minutes. Every second counts."

Krit nodded. "We'd better eat up now, then."

He reached into the cooler and withdrew three large sub sandwiches. He handed one to Syl and offered the other to Logan, who refused. Krit shrugged and went to work on his dinner.

"There's something you need to be aware of while you're in there," Lydecker said a few minutes later. Krit and Syl paused in their meals to look at him. Logan listened with his eyes still on his computer screen.

"You may run into people you think you know," Lydecker continued. "You don't."

"Yeah, we got it the first time," Krit snapped. "Brin, and whoever else you captured since we escaped." The bitterness in his voice was palpable. "We're not ruling them out. But Max and Zack are our first priorities."

"It's not that," Lydecker interrupted. He shook his head. "These aren't the people you grew up with. They're your twins."

The van fell silent. Logan raised his head and stared at Lydecker.

"We have twins?" Syl repeated, her voice smaller than she would have liked him to hear. She cleared her throat.

"I never saw any twins while I was at Manticore," Krit argued skeptically, though not entirely unconvinced. They had, after all, discovered the presence of their own X7 clones only a few short months before.

"They were raised in another location," Lydecker answered. "Manticore was one half of a double-blind experiment. Nobody at either facility knew about the other. I didn't find out about it myself until a couple of weeks ago."

Syl and Krit were quiet while they processed this information.

Logan, on the other hand, was quickly growing irritated. "Why are you mentioning this just now?" he asked, his tone harsh.

"It wasn't relevant—"

"The hell it wasn't," Krit exploded.

"—until tonight," Lydecker finished smoothly. "They didn't escape like you did. They won't hesitate to sabotage the mission and protect Manticore."

Syl grabbed his shirt collar in a flash. "You take your 'mission' and you shove it," she growled through clenched teeth. "I don't care about your plans to expose Manticore and Renfro. We're going in for Max and Zack. That's it. Anything else happens, it's a bonus. You got me?"

Lydecker nodded.

Syl released her grip and turned away. "I need a drink," she said.

.

* * *

.

Max listlessly wondered what was taking so long. Her eyes focused on the crack in the ceiling and her brow furrowed. It was definitely a Manticore crack.

_But I'm not in Manticore. Manticore burned down._

_I'm hallucinating._

That had to be it. It made sense. If White could confuse her, he could get information out of her more easily. But she could have saved him the trouble. She wasn't planning to put up a fight. Nothing mattered anymore.

At last the table lowered and she saw Renfro enter the room and smirk down at her. Max wasn't surprised. _First the crack, now the bitch._ She half-expected her brain to bring in Lydecker next.

Max stared dully at the ceiling. Soon they would ask her where Ray was, and then she would tell them, and then she'd be dead.

Renfro leaned forward until her face was just inside Max's field of vision. She smiled.

"Who is Eyes Only?" she asked.

Max, aware that her hallucination was altering White's actual words, responded listlessly. "You mean Ray?"

Renfro's eyes sparkled in delight.

"Tell me about Ray," she said gently, smiling and cocking her head. Her tone was friendly, almost that of a trusted confidante.

"He's Ray Smith now," Max said, still staring straight ahead.

"Where is he?"

"In St. Louis," Max answered. "With his aunt." She didn't wish harm on him. He would be better off with his own father. The less she interfered, the better. Everyone she touched turned up dead.

"Does his aunt know who he really is?" Renfro asked. Max only nodded.

"You've been very cooperative, X5-452," Renfro said, straightening up and smiling. She sounded satisfied and patronizing. "_Very_ cooperative."

Renfro stepped away from Max. The door opened, and Max heard her tell someone, "Take her back to her cell. We'll continue tomorrow."

"Thought you were gonna kill me," Max said dully.

Renfro glanced back at her. "I have other plans for you." And with another satisfied smile, she left the room.

.


	17. Chapter 17

_A/N: There will definitely be two more chapters after this one, if not three. Many thanks to Kasman, Alaidh, and M/L Only for helping me get past some creative roadblocks during the writing of this chapter and the next. As always, thanks to Alaidh and Kasman for the beta._

* * *

"Krit, Syl, are you ready?" Logan asked into the microphone attached to his earpiece. 

"Ready," Krit answered quietly from his place just inside the wall that surrounded the Manticore grounds. He looked at Syl beside him.

"Ready, willing, and itching," Syl added.

The two of them had jumped the east wall an hour earlier and waited in a tree since then. A hundred yards ahead stood a tall, electrified chain-link fence; lasers mounted on top pierced the air thirty feet above. Beyond that stood a small grove of trees. Down in the gully below, behind a shorter fence topped with razor wire, lay a complex of two- and three-story buildings with barred windows. Syl and Krit were growing antsier and angrier the longer they looked at it.

Lydecker spoke into his own microphone. "Kalins, O'Neill, are you ready?"

"Affirmative," came the reply. The Humvee that Lydecker had used to drive Max away from the silo three months before now sat outside the locked gate on the west side of the compound. The two former TAC officers inside placed their helmets on their heads and buckled the straps.

Logan adjusted the controls on his laptop and double-checked his watch. Two minutes remained until Lydecker's contact was due to pull the switch that would turn off the firewall and open the door for Logan to inhabit Manticore's computer subsystems. Nervously he checked the program running in another window. The last digit remained to be decoded. If Lydecker's contact didn't come through with the manual switch, they'd have to delay the mission until the decoding program finished, and by then the security upgrade—and Logan's hacking window with it—could be rescheduled or canceled altogether.

Logan watched as the clock on his computer ticked toward 11:00 PM. Every second was one second closer to bringing down Manticore and bringing Max out…or to ruining their chances forever.

Krit and Syl cocked their weapons.

The clock hit 11:00.

On the computer, a beep sounded and two windows flashed. A countdown bar began moving. "Firewall is down," Logan said into his microphone with a sigh of relief. His fingers began moving over the keys. "I'm hacking into the perimeter defense system now."

Moments later, he added, "Krit, Syl, your section of the fence is down. You're good to go."

"Initialize," Lydecker confirmed.

Inside the wall, the lasers snapped off and the electrified fence ceased its subaudible buzz.

"Roger that," Syl said quietly. "Initializing." She and Krit ran to the fence and jumped over, watching for X7 guards as they continued toward the buildings.

"Kalins, O'Neill, I've unlocked the west gate," Logan said after a few more keystrokes. "It should be opening for you now."

"Enter as soon as you have room to drive through," Lydecker told them. "Take the north branch to the motor pool."

"Acknowledged."

A moment later, the Humvee was on its way down the long driveway into the compound, headed for a fork in the road a hundred yards from the rear of the building. The west gate closed but remained unlocked.

"I've unlocked the east entrance of the barracks," Logan said to Krit and Syl, fingers still moving. "Steer clear of X7s and you should be able to get right in."

"Get me the exterior camera at that entrance," Lydecker told him. "I'll keep watch while you get the hallway locks opened."

"I'm going for the interior cameras first," Logan disagreed, quickly getting the requested exterior camera but not removing his eyes from the computer screen. "Gotta know where to send them and provide cover."

"It won't matter, if they can't get there," Lydecker objected. "They're trained soldiers. Tactical decisions in a black-ops situation are their specialty. Their chances are better than you think."

Logan, still disagreeing, chose not to waste time arguing further. Within moments every lock in the complex clicked open, section by random section to avoid suspicion as long as possible.

"Locks are open," he said.

* * *

Max lay on the cot that had been restored to her cell, staring at the ceiling. She had lain motionless since being escorted there two hours before, thinking only thoughts that came against her will. Logan was dead, Original Cindy was dead, most of the transgenics from Manticore were dead—all because of her. She deserved to die. And now White had her captive, had her thinking she was at Manticore, probably wanted to do some sick experiment on her, and she didn't even care. She just wanted it to be over. 

Eventually, long after lights-out, Max heard the lock on her door click open.

She didn't move. She kept staring at the ceiling and waited for White to enter in some deceptive form and take her away. But nobody came in, and completely despite herself, Max began to get curious.

Her eyes slid over to the door. There was no one standing there, sneering at her. There wasn't even a guard standing at attention and awaiting further orders. It appeared that her cell was available for departure anytime she wished.

_What does it matter? There's nothing for me to go back to. They're all dead. I killed them. I deserve to die._

A fresh wave of pain washed over her and she went back to staring at the ceiling.

* * *

"We're in," Krit said over the speaker in the van. 

"You've seen the blueprints my contact sent over," Lydecker told them. "Max's cell should be in the rear wing of the first floor."

"This barracks is pretty well guarded," Syl whispered. She and Krit ducked into the shadows of a recess in the wall near the entrance they'd just stepped through. Twenty yards away, two armed sentries paced the long hallway. "We can get through, but it'd be better to have Eyes Only provide a distraction."

"Can't risk it yet," Logan said. "I need to get A/V so we can see whether Max is even in her cell, and so we can find Zack." It would have been so much easier if Lydecker's contact had known Zack's status and location.

"All right," Krit acknowledged. "We'll let you know when we're clear."

"Acknowledged," Lydecker said. Turning to Logan, he said, "With or without the firewall, Manticore's intrusion detection system will find us before long. If you can't get A/V in five minutes, make your hack."

Logan merely grunted a reply. His fingers flew over the keys even faster than usual. He was aware that the success of his quest to find Max and take down Manticore depended upon him getting into the right systems and making his hack within a short period of time. Even Krit and Syl's ability to do what they needed to do and get out safely depended on him.

While Logan worked, Krit and Syl made their way down the hallway, careful to duck into shadows and doorways whenever the guards turned in their direction. As one guard passed in front of her, Syl reached out and quickly rendered him unconscious. She dropped him to the ground slowly and quietly before releasing her hold.

"One down, one to go," she mouthed to Krit. He nodded.

It wasn't long before the second guard noticed the absence of the first, and came over to investigate. Krit lunged at him and did the same maneuver Syl had just performed. _Good thing it's after lights-out,_ Krit thought, knowing the hallway would have been filled with loyal X5s had he been there during daylight hours.

"We're clear," he said quietly. "We're about halfway down the hall. Logan?"

"Still working on it," Logan replied.

Syl held out a hand to stop Krit. "Footsteps," she whispered.

Logan's fingers froze for a moment over the keys before he realized Krit and Syl could take care of themselves and continued to work on the audio/visual system.

Inside, Krit and Syl pressed themselves against a wall and waited for the footsteps to approach from a cross hall. Syl picked out two voices and signaled as much to Krit. They ambushed the approaching soldiers as soon as the latter reached the main hall.

The two guards were easy…but they hadn't anticipated the five X5 soldiers following behind.

Each of the five remembered Krit and Syl from the slides they had been shown in 2009. The escapees' faces had become inextricably linked to the words "traitor" and "deserter" in the minds of the others. Even now, the five snarled as they attacked the pair. Soon the objective of reaching Max's cell was put on hold as Krit and Syl found themselves in the middle of a vicious fight.

* * *

Logan and Lydecker listened to the sounds of the fight with a glance at each other. Both knew neither Krit nor Syl dared speak to them for fear of revealing the van's presence. Unable to fight the fight for them, Logan returned to his keyboard and prayed that Krit and Syl would emerge unscathed. 

Moments later, his computer beeped and he had access to the A/V system.

He quickly typed in the coordinates indicated on the blueprint. His heart caught in his throat when the screen came up.

There she was!

For a moment he was transfixed. All this time he'd feared her dead, told everybody she was dead, mourned her death, and yet had never quite managed to convince himself she was dead. And she wasn't. There she was, lying on a cot in a cell deep in Manticore, so close he felt like he could reach out and touch her.

Later he would be shocked at her emaciated appearance and the stronger-than-usual haunted look in her eyes. But right now, all he saw was Max.

After a moment he managed to take his eyes off her long enough to slowly pan the camera. There was no guard at the door, no one else in the room. It would be safe to speak. Suddenly his mouth was very dry.

"Max," he whispered. He cleared his throat and tried again, louder this time.

"Max, can you hear me?"

She didn't answer. Her only visible reaction was a quick knitting of her brows before she squeezed her eyes shut.

Didn't she recognize him? Did she not want to hear him? Logan fought down the negative possibilities that came to mind. There was no reason to panic. Still, his voice took on added urgency as he spoke again. "Max, are you all right?"

She didn't respond. Logan swallowed hard. "Max, we're here. We're gonna get you out."

Was it just him, or did she squeeze her eyes even more tightly at that?

He didn't have time to consider the question further before Lydecker drew his attention to another screen. Krit and Syl were still battling, beginning to lose their fight.

"Make the hack," Lydecker said urgently.

Logan's eyes widened. He'd been afraid it would come down to a choice such as this. If he continued to talk to Max, he could tell her what was happening, guide her out of the building. No matter what else happened, he'd know she had a chance. Just talking to Max again after all this time was enough to make him seriously consider dropping everything else.

On the other hand, for the good of the mission, now was the time to make his hack. The ensuing chaos would provide Krit and Syl with a valuable diversion, and time was running out before his presence in the system would be detected by Manticore's computers. If he was caught, he'd be locked out, Krit and Syl would be locked in, and there would be little chance of Krit, Syl, Max, or Zack making it out of the building alive.

His finger hovered over the key that served as a speaker button.

_"I always do the right thing…don't I?"_

Logan's own words from another time came back to him. He wanted badly to help Max right now, get her back, but it wouldn't be right to abandon Krit, Syl, and the mission just to get her out a few minutes sooner.

_What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?_ #

After a moment of standstill, Logan's finger moved to a different key and pressed it.

* * *

From her table at Crash, Original Cindy saw the TV change over to the familiar red, white and blue banners. The other patrons looked up at the angry eyes that filled the screen. 

_"Do not attempt to adjust your set."_

The thugs beating a homeless man in front of an electronics store paused to look at the wall of television screens through the cracked glass next to them. The man cowered and waited for his opportunity to escape while his tormentors were distracted.

_"This is a Streaming Freedom Video from the Eyes Only informant net."_

Montana state police working the night shift looked up at the small TV mounted near the ceiling in the corner of the room.

_"Your location has been revealed."_

In Washington, D.C., Congresspersons and those at the Department of Defense who had stayed to work late jumped up from their seats and the building became a hive of activity. One hand reached for the phone.

"_Your secret is out. And now Manticore will be held accountable for its crimes."_

* * *

"It's them," said a Manticore tech in the control room, passing Renfro the handset of the phone he had just answered. 

"Renfro," she said into the phone, then listened for a moment and nodded. "I understand." She handed the phone back to the tech to hang up. "Lock down the barracks. We're cauterizing the site."

The tech attempted to follow her instructions and gulped when he found himself unable to. "Um…I can't."

"What do you mean, you can't?" she barked, turning back to him sharply after starting to walk away.

"The locks are open. It won't let me close them. Someone's overridden the system."

A look of frustration was replaced by one of rage. "Burn it anyway. Now," she called over her shoulder as she marched purposefully out of the room.

* * *

Alarms blared. Lights flashed. Krit and Syl took advantage of the distraction to battle back harder than ever, soon overpowering the soldiers fighting them. After knocking the last one out, they ran down the hall. 

"Nice work, Logan," Syl said. "We're leaving the populated wing now."

On the screen in front of Lydecker, soldiers climbed out of their beds, awakened by the fire alarms.

"Pipe in the instructions," Lydecker told Logan.

Logan hit a key combination. A prerecorded message in Andrews' voice began playing in each of the cells. "Egress from the central exit and rendezvous at the crest of the hill, rear of the compound, coordinates 100-450. Repeat, egress from the central exit…"

The soldiers, recognizing the voice of a commanding officer, began spilling out of their cells and hurrying calmly toward the center of the building.

Lydecker hoped they would be able to make it. The Montana compound had been designed for maximum security and had a minimum of fire exits. Manticore had planned for the possible necessity of burning the place down, a restriction imposed upon it as the direct result of the escape of '09, and had designed its facilities accordingly.

Smoke crept into the area as Krit and Syl turned a corner. "I can see her door from here," Syl called.

"Okay," Logan acknowledged. "I've secured the lock controls, so you should be good to go when you—"

Suddenly a beeping window popped to the front of his screen.

ACCESS DENIED

"Damn it!"

"What happened?" Krit asked.

* * *

Inside the security control room, Major Andrews lay face-down and open-eyed on his desk. 

"Ma'am?" asked the tech seated beside him, attempting to hide the fear that he may be next.

"Major Andrews has been communicating with Colonel Lydecker," Renfro answered, removing her manicured left index finger from the switch she had just flipped and using it to lift the tech's chin so he was forced to look into her eyes. "Were you aware of this communication?"

"No, m-ma'am," he stuttered.

She searched his eyes for a moment longer and then nodded. "Good," she said, releasing his chin. "Now, I believe we're currently in the middle of a security upgrade?"

"Y-yes, ma'am."

"Cancel it," she ordered. "I want that firewall kept up until further notice. Run a scan and keep me informed of _any_ intrusion attempts."

"Yes, ma'am," the tech said to her retreating back. He looked at Andrews' body next to him and swallowed.

* * *

Max should have known. It was inevitable that she would eventually hallucinate Logan's voice, and in some way she wasn't surprised. White knew Logan was her soft spot. 

Still…she wasn't prepared for how much it hurt.

She'd killed him, and now all she had left of him was a hallucination. She'd had wounds reopened before—physical in childhood as well as emotional since then—but it had never caused pain like this. It was like losing him all over again.

If only he were really there and not just in her mind.

In the distance, she heard fire alarms start to go off. Cell doors opened and people spilled into the hallways. Voices, louder than usual but too far away to be distinct, carried the tone of wonder and panic. It sounded just like it had when she had burned Manticore down.

_That's odd,_ Max thought. _If White's trying to intimidate me, make me think I'm captive at Manticore again, why would he recreate my escape? There's something weird about that._

_What if…what if it's not a recreation?_

No, that was just wishful thinking.

Still, for some reason, she couldn't dismiss it completely. The hallucinogen could be wearing off. Any minute now she might start to see things the way they really were, at White's compound—wherever it was—and it wasn't outside the realm of possibility that White's compound was on fire. A stretch, maybe, but not impossible.

Max sat up and crept to the door. Slowly, quietly, she opened it and peered around the edge of the doorjamb. There were no guards in sight…and she definitely smelled smoke. Maybe she had subconsciously realized all this, that the building was on fire and it was time to move, and had expressed it in Logan's voice so her conscious mind would pay attention.

Another stretch, but she was feeling clearer by the minute, and she was certain now that she was not imagining this fire. Maybe she could take advantage of it to find an escape.

_Why bother? You killed everyone you love. What is there to escape to?_

Max's shoulders sagged. She nearly turned back to her cot. But now, for the first time, she had an answer.

_Logan_ _would want me to at least try. I owe him that much._

She paused.

She'd been ready to give up, knowing she'd been the cause of so many deaths. She'd thought there was no reason to go on fighting. Now, though, she was suddenly aware that her friends hadn't known a Max who gave up. They'd loved the Max who never quit. If she stopped now, if she let herself be broken and killed without a fight, it'd go against everything they would have wanted.

She couldn't bring them back. But she could honor their memories.

With another glance toward the populated wing, she slipped out of her cell, closed the door behind her, and headed the other way.

* * *

"The firewall's back up," explained Logan urgently. "It looks like they haven't finished the upgrade, so they haven't changed the codes, but I need to get the last key before I can get back in." He glanced worriedly at the laptop next to him. It said 99 finished. 

"Come on…come on…" he muttered at it.

"We're at her door," Krit said suddenly. Logan jerked his eyes away from his laptop and looked fruitlessly at the camera screen that had gone black minutes before. "No one's around. Everybody's busy running the other way."

"Smoke's getting pretty thick," Syl added. Her voice sounded rough and Logan knew anybody but an X5 would have been coughing up a fit by now. "We need to get in there."

"Okay," Lydecker acknowledged. "Go in."

There was a creak as a heavy door was opened, and then silence against the alarms in the background. Logan held his breath. Right about now they should be gathering up Max, helping her out of the room…

"She's not here," Syl said.

Logan's stomach dropped. "What? She was there before I made the hack."

"The cell's empty. We've checked the whole room."

Logan closed his eyes. He'd been so close—she'd been right there, and now, a few minutes later, she was gone. Had someone come to get her—done something to her? "Oh, God," he whispered.

He was saved from anguish only by Syl's next words.

"Her cot's warm."

A moment later, she coughed and corrected herself. "I mean, parts of it are warmer than others. She must have just left."

"It's pretty hot in here. If she'd left any more than a minute or two ago, the mattress would be evenly heated," Krit added with a cough of his own. "We're hitting the deck."

Lydecker nodded. "You've already traversed the only way to her cell from the direction you came. Head the other way and see if you can catch up with her. We need to get her down to the mess hall—at the other end of the building, set into the hill below the first floor. It's the area least likely to be guarded in a fire after lights-out."

"Acknowledged," Krit said. "Moving out."

Logan's computer beeped. He turned to see the sixteen digits of the firewall key flashing large and white on the screen.

"Perfect timing," he said with relief.

-.-

# Mark 8:36 


	18. Chapter 18

_A/N: I'm planning on two more chapters after this one. Thanks, as usual, to Alaidh and Kasman for the beta. Thanks also to M/L Only for the creative suggestion and to orca for the technical info._

* * *

Logan quickly made use of the newly decoded firewall key to re-enter Manticore's security system. The TV screens in the van snapped back to life.

Lydecker monitored Krit and Syl's progress through the building after they covered the camera in Max's cell with her blanket. Logan flipped through camera views more quickly than he'd ever imagined his fingers could go, searching for the one that would reveal Max.

A few minutes later, he found her. She was running upstairs.

"I've got her," Logan exclaimed for Krit and Syl's benefit, relieved that she was at last moving. "She's ascending staircase B."

"We're not far from there," Syl's voice answered.

Logan watched while Max bounded up the steps four at a time. For security reasons, her wing of the barracks did not have an exit; she'd have to run through the building to get to one. There were no speakers for him to use in the staircase and he had to wait until she reached another contact point.

Moments later, Max reached the top of the staircase and entered the second floor. Logan anticipated her trajectory down the long hallway. This wing was unpopulated on the second floor, as it was on the first, and it was by now unguarded as well. The guards had followed the soldiers toward the exit at the center of the building on the first floor.

As she approached the first speaker in the hallway, Logan pressed a key on his keyboard and addressed her. "Max, you need to get to the mess hall on the ground floor. Take the rear stairwell."

Max slowed to a halt and stared into space as if thinking.

"Go, Max!" Logan urged. "Downstairs!"

At this, she seemed to come to some sort of decision and began running again. Logan closed his eyes briefly, relieved that she had heard him, and waited for her to reach the mess hall.

* * *

She'd heard it again.

As soon as she had entered the second floor, Max had heard Logan's voice telling her the way. It was strange, her subconscious expressing itself this way, and she was beginning to wonder if it was a trick. Maybe White had manipulated her to the point that she was deliberately sending herself into danger. Maybe he himself was waiting at the bottom of the rear stairwell. Maybe she'd find herself staring into the barrel of a gun.

On the other hand, she really couldn't use the building's main exit because it would be too crowded. She'd be caught in a heartbeat. If this wasn't a trick, if somehow she really did know the best way out, then at least she had a chance.

That was what Max had decided in the hallway. Now she was running into the poorly lit rear stairwell and thinking about Manticore. She'd never been allowed into this particular staircase while she was there—she still had a faded scar from an altercation with the guard who'd informed her as much—and though the décor resembled that of Manticore, the staircase itself was new to her. She hoped the hallucinogen was wearing off and she was beginning to see White's building as it really looked.

She wasn't sure what she'd do when she got to the mess hall, and she half-hoped her inner Logan Voice would pipe up again and make it obvious. The rest of her brain was busy preparing for battle in case she ran across some guards, soldiers, or even White himself.

There was no one at the bottom of the staircase. She pushed open the door to the ground floor to find…nobody.

_Okay...where do I go now?_ she asked herself.

The air here was thick with smoke and she had to creep down the hallway bent over, unable to breathe any higher or even see the ceiling. Every ten feet or so she passed a door, with a glass window through which she could look into the mess hall.

A minute later, she heard indistinct voices approaching from a distance. Max decided to duck through one of the doors for cover.

She knelt behind the solid portion of the closed door, listening to the voices in the hallway as they approached. A roaring, crackling sound from about fifty yards behind her caught her attention. She turned to see fire quickly filling the room.

With horror, she realized she was hiding near a storage shelf laden with vegetable oil, fuel canisters, and just about every other flammable material stored in an industrial kitchen.

Acting on instinct, she flung the door open and raced into the hall. No longer worried about the people approaching, she concentrated on putting as much distance as possible between her and the area she had just left. She had sprinted about a hundred feet when the room exploded.

Max found herself flying through the air and felt her head make contact with the wall before she lost consciousness.

* * *

"Max!" Logan shouted into his microphone. "Max!"

He'd lost sight of Max as soon as she'd left the rear stairwell, as the cameras on the ground floor were obscured by heavy smoke near the ceiling. He had just been able to make out the sound of her footsteps over the fire alarms and the crackling of the fire inside the facility.

Moments ago, he had heard her footsteps stop and a door squeak open…then her footsteps again as she'd barreled out of the room…and finally a boom.

Now there was just fire, and no footsteps.

Logan hadn't experienced such panic since the day he'd first lost Max.

"We can't get down the hall!" Syl was shouting to them from the staircase exit. "It's on fire!" She and Krit looked around hurriedly, noting that the near end of the mess hall was clearer than the rest of the long room. She squinted through the glass in the door. "I think I see a door to another hallway on the other side of the mess hall."

"Can you cross?" Lydecker asked, glancing at Logan. The latter was busy trying to elicit a response from Max.

"I think so," Syl shouted back.

"Okay. Cross through there so you can use the other hallway to catch up to Max. There should be another door into the mess at the other end."

"All right, here we go."

* * *

Max stirred and turned her head, groaning at the movement against the hard floor. She smelled smoke and immediately remembered what had happened before she'd been knocked out. Her eyes snapped open.

The fire burned thirty feet behind her, advancing slowly in her direction. Holding her forehead, Max stood up as much as she could below the smoke and began walking toward the end of the hallway. She had to find a way out of here—if she didn't want to end up a crispy critter.

Behind her, muffled by the fire, she heard a faint sound.

"Max! Can you hear me? Max?"

She turned and attempted to peer back down the hallway. As expected, she saw no one, no form surrounded by flame, nothing to indicate that anyone had spoken. She turned around to continue.

She turned to glance at the mess door again. She'd never been allowed into the mess hall at Manticore after her recapture, so she didn't have a memory of it—which meant she must now be seeing White's building the way it really was. But why would White have a mess hall?

She could just still be hallucinating.

"Max?" Logan's voice came from in front of her this time, ten feet ahead, and louder.

She suddenly found herself very tired. This was the second time in as many days that she'd awoken from unconsciousness, and she was tired of having to figure out what was real and what wasn't.

Wasn't there some chance, any chance, that she wasn't hallucinating?

It was a plea, a desperate question from a woman who'd had more than she could stand, and Max knew she was confused when she allowed herself to stop and attempt to figure out some way to make the answer yes.

She was walking past a mess hall in a burning building, hearing Logan's voice. She'd been doing the same before she'd been knocked out. White had questioned her, but he'd looked and sounded just like Renfro, and if Max hadn't known it was a hallucination, she'd have sworn the bitch was alive and kicking.

But that had been a hallucination. Hadn't it? In reality she'd killed everyone she loved, White had captured her, and he'd knocked her out and drugged her so she'd think she was back at Manticore.

She struggled to remember what had happened before that. The memory of Logan and Original Cindy dying before her eyes was painfully clear to her, as were the deaths of half the transgenics in Seattle, but the rest was a haze. She knew the transgenics had been outed, that she had broken up with Logan and lied to him, that Joshua had turned on her, that White had nearly killed her more than once, that she'd been unable to touch Logan, that even their briefest chance to be together had ended in disaster…

Max frowned. Something about that last one wasn't right. What had been the problem? She'd had to leave Logan's arms and find someone…chase something…

A lizard.

She remembered it all now. After a long succession of panther ladies, mermen, and reverse vampires, her only chance to be with Logan had been ruined by a lizard—a giant, bipedal, slime-spitting lizard. It was like something out of a cartoon…a dream.

_That_ had been the hallucination!

Max slumped against the wall under the weight of the dawning realization.

It hadn't been real. All this time she'd thought her strange little life had become a nightmare, that she was poison and part of a weird race of people and that she had killed everyone she loved, and all the while it had been nothing more than her own imagination and the effect of the drugs running through her system.

She'd assumed it had all been true. When she'd woken to find herself in a situation that completely contradicted the entire past year, she'd assumed the bug-eater and the giant lizard had been real and Renfro wasn't.

Angrily, she closed her eyes and berated herself. _Idiot! How could I have been so stupid?_

She did some mental calculation. She really was at the new Manticore right now. That meant the raid on the old Manticore had really taken place, so she really had been taken captive by Renfro, but it also meant Logan and Original Cindy were alive.

They were alive!

_Thank God!_

Tears brimmed through her eyelashes. She hadn't known such relief in a long, long time.

The heat of the fire grew warmer against her skin. She opened her eyes and looked up and down the hallway. It was real. She hadn't been imagining things. She really _had_ been hearing Logan's voice.

Logan was there!

With blinding speed she ran toward the last place she had heard him, ten feet ahead.

"Logan!" she cried.

Desperately hoping the hallway was equipped with microphones as well as speakers and cameras, she braved the smoke and stood up, feeling along the wall. "Logan! Logan!"

* * *

Logan's heart flew up into his throat. Max had survived the explosion—and she was calling him!

"Max!"

"Logan! Thank God!" he heard her shout.

"Max, are you all right?" he asked, for the moment not caring that Lydecker had noticed the tears of relief welling up in his eyes.

"The hallway's full of smoke," she answered, and he heard her cough as if mentioning the smoke had made her realize how suffocating it was. "Which way's out?"

"See if you can get back in the mess hall," he told her, swallowing to clear his swelling throat. "There's an exit near the rear of the kitchen. The delivery people aren't allowed anywhere else in the building—they go in and out that one door. It leads to the parking lot."

Max glanced back the way she had come. It was blocked by fire, but there was another door into the kitchen a few feet ahead. "I'll see what I can do. Last time it exploded on me. Can you follow me? Are there cameras or whatever in there?"

"Yeah. Go now, Max!"

"Okay. I'm heading in."

* * *

"Barracks basement is secure, ma'am," a black-clad soldier reported to Renfro in the control room. "All basement corridors and cells have been purged. No escapees, no survivors."

"Good," Renfro said, typing furiously. Camera views on the computer in front of her showing an empty gymnasium and empty classrooms, both located in the third building, quickly filled with flames and smoke. "Report on the other two floors?"

A tech answered. "The occupied wings of the first and second floors are burning. Cameras in all areas are obscured by smoke. Central exit was ignited two minutes ago, but some X5s and X6s are cooperating to extinguish it with water and blankets. Looks like they've almost succeeded."

"Go down there and get them away from the door. Keep them inside. Then set more charges!" she told the soldier hurriedly. He saluted and left. Renfro turned to another tech. "How many have escaped?"

"By my count, about forty," the second tech answered. "Roughly half, not counting the ones that were in the basement. Our guards have nailed some outside the building, but the rest are out of range. Not sure where they're headed."

"Damn it," Renfro swore. She set off the last charge in the third building and stood up. "Ignite the rear wing of the barracks. First and second floors."

"Ma'am?" the tech asked, surprised. "Even X5-452's cell?"

"Especially her cell," Renfro answered, seemingly distracted by the computer screen in front of her but her voice betraying her growing sense of urgency.

"I thought you gave orders to leave her intact should anything happen," the tech double-checked, not prepared to lose her job over an inaccuracy. "You said she had valuable information and that interrogation was not yet complete."

"She knows too much. We can't afford to let her escape. She gave us Eyes Only—that's the most important thing. Burn it. Now."

The tech nodded and returned to her computer.

* * *

In the van, Lydecker spoke into his microphone while Logan guided Max through the mess hall kitchen. "Krit, Syl, we've spoken to Max. She's on her way out through the kitchen."

"Thank God," he heard Syl and Krit breathe simultaneously.

Logan sat back and allowed himself a deep, calming breath. He could barely believe it—he and Max had made contact, she had sounded glad to hear him, and she was trying to get out.

He rotated his shoulders, shrugging off the worry that had weighed on him since he'd first seen her lying on the cot in her cell. He wasn't naïve enough to think she'd come through her entire captivity completely unscathed, but she seemed to be herself. Manticore hadn't turned her.

* * *

Max made her way through the mess hall kitchen, avoiding the flames and smoke when she could, holding her breath and hurrying through the smoky areas when she had to. She looked left and right for the exit, finally spotting it about 20 feet away.

It was blocked by flames.

Her heart caught in her throat. So close, and yet…! "Logan, the door's blocked," she yelled, not sure where the nearest speaker or camera was.

"Can you get through?" Logan asked, his brow knitting all over again as he furiously checked the kitchen blueprints for an alternate exit.

"No. And even if I could, I think the heat's warped the door shut." His voice had been nearby, but the fire was loud, and Max kept her voice raised to make sure he could hear her over the crackling. "Tell me there's another door."

It took him a few more seconds, during which time the sound of Max coughing made him search even faster, but soon he found an alternative. "There's a tunnel to the next building on the north wall of the kitchen. Can you get there?"

"I think so. Give me a minute."

Logan closed his eyes for a moment and prayed that Max would be able to reach the tunnel door. The next building over held the administrative offices and was likely to be the last one set on fire.

Max, meanwhile, dodged flare-ups and infernos, crouching as low to the ground as she could to breathe clearer air. In two minutes that felt like thirty, she had crossed to the north wall and found the other door. This one was unblocked and unwarped, and she was able to quickly open it and bound down the stairs to the landing.

"I see two doors," she yelled, hoping that Logan would be able to hear her from a speaker nearby. There was no reply. She realized that for now, at least, she was on her own.

She glanced from one door to the other. One was located under the stairs and most likely opened into the basement of the building; the other faced the opposite way and, it stood to reason, led to the tunnel to the next building. Max touched the face of the latter to check for fire on the other side. The door was cooler than she had expected. It had to be the way to go. Still, something kept her from turning away from the basement door.

_She dropped to the basement...a man with a face like a dog came rushing at her..."Father named me Joshua...made me, then left me...Joshua go with Max."_

Max wasn't entirely sure when her hallucination had started, but she was pretty sure it was after she had been tortured and her escape route discovered, which meant at one point she really had descended into the basement and met Joshua. And in that case, he might still be in there, and she had to get him out.

She reached up to feel the door. It was hot to the touch—so hot that her hand jerked away from it involuntarily. Why was the basement so much hotter than even the first floor had been? It must have been burning longer.

Maybe it had even been set on fire first. On purpose…

Her eyes widened as she realized it made sense. If Manticore got exposed, Renfro could pass the X5s off as regular soldiers, but the nomlies were obvious. Once Renfro decided to destroy all evidence of Manticore, the nomlies would be her first targets.

Max had to get as many people out of the basement as she could.

Urgency gripped her as she considered the door. It was so hot to the touch that she knew the fire must be very close. She also knew that air pressure increased with temperature and fire thrived on oxygen. As soon as she pushed the door open, the fire would spread from high pressure to low and from stale air to fresh—and would engulf her immediately.

Her stomach sank. She put one ear as close as she could to the door and listened.

The roar of the fire inside was deafening. She could just make out the sound of timber cracking and rivets dropping out of their holes as the metal joints melted around them. Something very heavy fell. The ceiling groaned. It was only a matter of time before the building collapsed on itself.

It was impossible for her to run in and rescue anybody—and if the rest of the basement was in the same condition, there wasn't anybody left to rescue, anyway.

Sorrowfully, Max stepped away from the door. She didn't allow herself a single moment of reflection before pushing the other door open and slipping into the cool tunnel behind it.

* * *

Logan wished there were surveillance cameras and microphones in the tunnel. Unfortunately it must have been used only by administrators, because it was unmonitored and kept on a separate lock system that he'd had to open specifically for Max.

He felt helpless just sitting there, waiting for Max to cross the tunnel and hoping she made it safely. It was wracking his nerves to wonder how she was doing. It had been bad enough waiting to get into Manticore's system earlier that night to see whether Max was really there, but if he lost her now…

Syl's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"We're at…to...mess hall," she announced, coughing. "It…thick in there." The reception on the link was fading fast. A look at his computer screen confirmed that his internet connection was tenuous as well.

Logan fought down the panic rising in his chest long enough to give Syl and Krit directions and hope they heard. "There's a tunnel that leads to the next building over. We've already sent Max to it. Can you reach the door on the north wall of the kitchen?" He had to repeat himself twice.

"…guess…have to," Krit said, not sure whether there was a clear path but knowing they had no other choice. "We're going in."

As soon as Krit finished speaking, Lydecker covered his microphone to ask Logan, "Why's the link fading?"

"I'm not sure," Logan said after muting his own microphone so he could type and talk privately at the same time. He quickly checked each possibility before ruling it out. "Firewall hasn't changed…laptop battery is still charged…weather hasn't changed…no new sunspots…"

After a few moments, he found the problem. "Here," he said, and Lydecker leaned over to peer at the screen. "The satellite we're using is failing. The damned thing's been up there since before the Pulse..."

His laptop threatened to disconnect from Manticore's system. Krit and Syl's voices reporting their progress through the mess hall cut out altogether. Logan groaned inwardly.

"Can you link to a different satellite?" Lydecker asked.

"That's what I'm doing now," Logan answered as he typed some commands. After a few moments, he pressed the final key to switch the link to the second satellite.

Krit and Syl's voices returned, but faintly and intermittently. A test camera switch on the laptop took twice as long as it should have.

"Damn," Logan swore. At Lydecker's curious look, he explained, "Second satellite's not using a strong enough transponder."

A glance at the clock confirmed that he wouldn't have time to decrypt the signal from a third satellite. He was going to have to amplify this signal somehow.

He breathed heavily in frustration. A larger dish would easily capture more signal; unfortunately, all but the smallest dishes were hard to come by these days. He'd built this one himself from components he'd scrounged up, and he didn't have the materials or the time to construct another one now. However, he could increase the amplification power of this dish. It wouldn't take long, and the materials for that _were_ available…sort of.

He touched the small battery pack attached to the switch at his waist, glanced toward the back of the van, and sighed. He really didn't want to do this, but it would be better than leaving Max, Krit and Syl hanging. He stood up and handed Lydecker a screwdriver.

"In a minute," he said, "you'll have to connect something to a part on the dish. Then we'll have the link up and running."

* * *

Max, meanwhile, took advantage of the clean air in the tunnel to pause in her escape and suck in huge breaths of air. Even an X5 couldn't breathe smoke and other various fumes for very long before succumbing to smoke inhalation, and Max had really been starting to feel its effects. She was grateful for the chance to clear out her lungs.

When she once again felt confident in her ability to breathe, she ran down the tunnel. Fortunately, it wasn't a long one—a hundred yards or so—and she traversed it quickly. It ended in another staircase, topped by a door. She opened the door a crack and peeked through to make sure no one was around.

The room into which the door opened was dark, but Max was easily able to see that she was alone. She stepped into the room and looked around as the door closed softly behind her.

* * *

A black-bereted soldier addressed Renfro in the control room. "Ma'am, we need to start igniting this building."

"Status of the rear barracks," she demanded first.

"Burning, ma'am," answered a tech.

"What about the X5s at the central exit? Have they been subdued?"

The tech peered at the screen in front of her. "Looks like most have, but a few are still attempting escape."

"Get them ba—"

Renfro's directive was interrupted by another tech. "Ma'am, we have an intruder in the research lab. Someone just tripped the tunnel door sensor."

"It's supposed to be unstaffed this time of night," Renfro said, stating the obvious as she went to look over the tech's shoulder at the details on the screen in front of him. She addressed the black-bereted soldier. "Get the X5s who are still trying to escape the barracks and send them to the research lab. They can identify the intruder and hold him there until we can burn it."

The soldier saluted and left the control room.

Renfro addressed the techs again. "As soon as they enter the lab, set it off."


	19. Chapter 19

_A/N: Almost done—there will be one more chapter after this. Thanks to Alaidh and Kasman for betaing, and to Denise for correcting me on something I should have known by now._

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Max took in the contents of the room in one sweeping glance.

Granite-topped lab tables, arranged neatly in rows, held glass equipment and capped beakers filled with fluid. Shelves on the wall held binders and books, while charts papered the walls. A stainless-steel refrigerator sat in one corner, and an autoclave was perched on a counter. The room, built in an L shape, continued around a corner. There were no windows.

"Max?" boomed the speaker on the wall opposite her. Max jumped, berating herself for not checking the walls for cameras as soon as she'd entered the room. What if Renfro had been watching instead of Logan? She hoped he had rerouted Renfro's camera feed, or set up looping footage.

"I'm here," she said, relieved to hear his voice again. "Don't see any doors, though."

Logan was relieved as well. He'd worried that something would go sideways while the communication link was down. "You're in the southwest corner of the research lab in the administration building. There's a door in the northeast corner and a stairwell right across the hall."

"What about guards?" Max asked, making her way past the tables.

"None at the moment, since the basement's closed up for the night," Logan told her, double-checking the hallway cameras, "but you'll have to get past some soldiers when you get closer to the building exit."

"Of course," Max sighed. "Can't make it easy on a girl, can they?"

"Krit and Syl are on their way. They're coming up in the tunnel behind you."

"Really? Good. Ass-kicking is more fun in a group, anyway."

Logan smiled, happy that Max was back to firing off one-liners.

Max, for her part, was feeling considerably less confident than she sounded. She was safe, for the moment, and her sibs were on their way, but she was still deep within Manticore. It'd be even tougher to get out of this building than the barracks, since there seemed to be no fire here for distraction. Then again, Max supposed, she'd have to worry about fire soon enough. If Renfro was going to the extreme of barbecuing the X5s, it meant the entire operation must have been compromised.

"Hey, Logan, you didn't happen to tick Renfro off by exposing her or anything, did you?" Max asked, a smile playing on her lips.

"Renfro herself wasn't named," Logan said tensely, "but she's got more than just you to worry about at the moment."

Max's lips broke into a full smile. _Same old Logan,_ she thought.

Her smile disappeared when she rounded the corner and saw a body lying on a stainless steel table. In flashes, she remembered peering through a door long ago and seeing Lydecker casually sip coffee while Jack lay on a table behind him, pale and still. She remembered her fear as she saw her own shaking hand and realized she could be next.

_They're still at it,_ she thought to herself now, shaking her head. _Like I should be surprised._ She would have to pass the cadaver on her way to the door, and Max approached it with morbid curiosity, wondering if it was anybody she knew.

She was horrified to recognize Zack's face.

Large stitches held together the sides of an unhealed gash in his chest. The gash stretched from his groin, splitting into a Y at the sternum to reach his shoulders. Max could see a bullet entrance wound in one side of his head and a large, messy exit wound on the other. His eyes seemed to stare up at her.

_This can't be right,_ she thought desperately. She struggled to remember what was real and what wasn't. The past year had been a hallucination, so Zack hadn't really tried to kill Logan. In fact, he hadn't been found at all, which meant the last time she had seen him was…hooked up to machines behind the observation window in the control room at Manticore. That had been just a few days ago.

_He's alive—Renfro showed me. Why would they keep him alive for three months just to kill him now?_

_Wait. Ben and Jondy have twins—maybe Zack does too. Maybe this is Zack's twin._

After a moment of hesitation, she slowly turned the body to look at the neck. The barcode read 330417291599.

It was Zack.

"Max?" Logan's voice called from a nearby speaker, but she didn't respond. She only numbly lowered Zack's body back to the table.

"Max?" This time it was Krit calling her. She didn't turn around.

Before long, Krit and Syl rounded the corner. "Max! Thank God you're okay! How—"

They stopped short when they saw Max staring at Zack's body.

"Oh my God…" Syl whispered.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Finally, unable to stand another moment of silence, Logan spoke up. "Max? Krit? Syl? What's going on?" He gritted his teeth, wishing they were within camera range.

"Zack's dead," Max said, sounding mournful. She reached out and closed the open eyes.

Logan wasn't sure he'd heard properly. "What?"

This time Max's voice was hard, brusque, as if she had shut away her emotions. "Zack's dead. We've found his body."

Lydecker and Logan exchanged a glance. Lydecker looked away and sighed.

"Come on," she said, giving very brief hugs to Krit and Syl before rounding the table and continuing on her way. "We gotta get out of here."

As they approached the door, the three of them found themselves staring at the spitting images of Ben, Jondy, and Zack, with weapons raised.

"I don't think so," X5-494 said.

------------

Logan's fingers were frozen over the keys. He barely breathed.

He had thought he'd been tense earlier, having to keep quiet and let Krit and Syl fight X5s in the hallway. That had been nothing. At least then he'd had something else to work on—and Max hadn't been directly in danger. This time she was right in the thick of things.

All he could do was listen and wait.

------------

The six X5s stared each other down for just a moment.

"I should have figured she'd send you here after me," Max spat. "Like it wasn't enough to drop the dime on me before."

"Yeah, well, if you'd followed the rules, you wouldn't have to worry about it, now, would you?" X5-494 answered. "Drop your weapons. Now." Once they'd done so, he nodded at Jondy's twin.

"Intruders apprehended," X5-211 said into a radio that had been attached to her belt. "Identities are X5-452, X5-471, and X5-701."

Renfro's voice answered from the radio. "Good work. Hold them there until I arrive."

X5-211 acknowledged the order and replaced the radio. The three loyal X5s advanced into the room, weapons still raised, causing Max, Krit and Syl to walk backwards a few steps.

"Funny seeing _you_ up and around," Max told X5-600. "Was that you Renfro showed me under all that hardware the other day?"

"Yeah. Thanks for that," he scowled like Zack. "I had to spend three days in there in case you broke loose."

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Max shot back. "But ya know, it's kinda presumptuous for you guys to say you've got us, don't you think?"

"Yeah? Where are you gonna go?" X5-494 said with a sneer, tightening his grip on his weapon. "I mean, seeing as how we've got you cornered."

"I'm going home. You got any tougher questions, Einstein?"

He snickered. "Yeah, right. The way you're pushing your luck, you'll be lucky to even see a cell again."

"Could say the same about you," Syl spoke up. "Considering the place is burning down and all."

X5-600 looked annoyed. "It won't take long for them to build another barracks. Meanwhile they'll probably put us up in the yard, make it a wilderness exercise. You, on the other hand…"

"I didn't say the barracks. I meant the whole complex is going up in flames."

"Your bluff might be a little more believable if there were actually flames," X5-494 said tightly, stepping menacingly closer to Syl.

Behind them, in the lab, something large exploded.

"You asked for it," Max said, and the three of them took advantage of the momentary distraction to leap into action.

Max rushed toward X5-600, kicking the weapon out of his hands just as he was about to fire it. The gun shot off harmlessly into the wall as it fell. He caught her ankle. Its momentum had already taken it past him, so he went with it it to the ground and pulled Max down on top of him.

As X5-494 fired, Krit ducked and dropped into a roll, knocking X5-494 into X5-211. Syl dived into the space X5-494 had previously occupied so she could reach the weapons she and Krit had been forced to drop. She tossed one to Krit and picked up the other herself. Their adversaries began to recover their stances and take aim again.

A wooden table exploded nearby. It was close enough to knock all six off their feet and the weapons out of their hands. Pieces of the table flew across the room. One flaming table leg landed on Zack's body.

Krit and X5-600 began to wrestle.

Max, seeing that one of the guns had landed very close to her, picked it up and thrust the butt end directly into the head of X5-494, who lay nearby. He was out for the count.

X5-211 scrambled up and leapt at Syl, who rolled out of the way. Syl leapt to her feet from her supine position and ran to retrieve the weapons. X5-211 hit the ground in a roll and kicked Krit off X5-600 as she approached. X5-600 went for Krit but was blocked by Max, who now stood in his path. The two of them engaged in hand-to-hand combat, throwing punches and kicks with equal fervor.

X5-211 jumped away from the group to draw Syl's fire, diving behind a cabinet as the latter pulled the trigger. Another explosion, this one originating from the refrigerator against the wall, sent shrapnel everywhere, and one piece stunned X5-211 enough for Syl to run over and knock her out with her weapon.

Max dodged a punch from X5-600 and flipped backward over him in an attempt to grab his neck. He whirled around and threw a punch before she landed, causing her to stumble. Krit threw an arm around X5-600's neck from behind. While X5-600 attempted to remove it, Max charged over and kicked his groin. His knees buckled. He bit into Krit's arm; Krit grimaced but kept his grip. Finally Max delivered a roundhouse kick, this time directly to X5-600's face, and he was out cold.

Krit dropped him to the ground and took the weapon Syl held out. "Got 'em," he said into his microphone with a note of triumph in his voice. He heard Logan breathe a sigh of relief.

Syl reached into one of her pockets and handed Max an earpiece. Max quickly affixed it to her ear and tested it. "Logan, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear," Logan said with a smile on his face. For the first time that night he was hearing her voice, not as she yelled across the room, but as she spoke directly into his ear. He cleared his throat. "Um, Lydecker's here too."

Max paused for a moment, not sure quite how to take that news, but she decided it was to their benefit. After all, he hadn't been responsible for things going sideways the first time…presumably.

Debris swirled around the room, and the smoke was quickly growing intolerable. "Come on," she said. "We gotta get out of here." She reached for a couple of scalpels, checked to make sure their caps were tightly closed, and tucked them into the tops of her boots.

"What should we do with them?" Krit asked, nodding toward the unconscious X5s.

"We'll take 'em up the stairs and leave 'em there," Max answered. "No telling whether Renfro will torch the rest of the building before they wake up, but they'll have a chance." The three gathered up the twins, each in a fireman's carry, and headed for the door.

They took a moment to look back inside the lab. The flames engulfing Zack's body rose high, a pyre burning deep in the heart of Manticore.

The orange light flickered in the eyes of his three siblings as they paid their last respects.

One by one, they turned away and climbed the stairs.

------------

"Ma'am, it's time for you to leave," the black-bereted soldier told Renfro in the control room. "The side wings are burning and the plan calls for the center wing next."

"I'll get my things from my office," Renfro said, straightening from her position at a terminal. She addressed the tech over whose shoulder she had been looking. "Seal off the main doors and set off the charges on the first floor. We have some X6s on guard duty and I don't want any of them leaving this building."

The tech, who had long ago wrestled with her conscience and emerged the reluctant victor, nodded.

Renfro led the black-bereted soldier upstairs to her office. Quickly and calmly she gathered her papers, her gun, a framed photograph, and a few disks, and placed them into her briefcase. After snapping the latches, she turned to her computer and entered a few keystrokes.

The rest of the building, including the entire control room, erupted in flames. The black-bereted soldier hid his gulp at the step he'd known would have to be taken but somehow still hadn't expected.

Renfro picked up her briefcase, took one last look around the room, and turned off the lights.

"Downstairs," was all she said as she led the way.

------------

On the first floor, doors blew into the hallway as rooms suddenly exploded.

Max, Krit and Syl dived to the floor.

"It never fails," Max said above the din. "You take out a few guards and they blow up the building on you."

"Can you still get through?" Lydecker asked them.

She focused her eyesight through the smoke that had quickly filled the hallway. "I think so. It's gonna be hairy."

"We're about 20 yards from the door that leads to the garage," Syl added. "No guards in sight. I think we took out all the remaining ones after we left the basement, but there's no telling how many might be hiding in the smoke."

"Smoke's blocking the cameras, so I can't help you on that one," Logan said with considerable frustration.

"All right. We're gonna make a run for it."

The three of them got to their feet, crouched as much as they could to avoid the thickest smoke, and started running. They leapt over burning doors lying on the floor and dodged flames licking out from the empty doorways. Syl had been correct; there were no guards left between them and the door, and they reached it quickly.

Krit pushed the door open and the three of them cautiously stepped through, quickly shutting the door behind them to contain the fire as much as possible. "We're in the garage," he announced to the men in the van. "The air's clear."

The private garage held a sedan and two SUVs, all painted black, facing away from the building. There were no keys anywhere in sight. Max attempted to open the garage door, but the button denied her access. A keypad next to it apparently controlled both the door and the complex alarm system mounted on it.

"Logan," Max said into her microphone, "I think we can hotwire a car if the fire holds off long enough. Can you break the security code?" Syl moved a plastic gasoline container away from the near wall.

"I'm working on it," Logan answered, and she could hear the click of keys in the background. "Go ahead and get started on the car." Time was when he would have discouraged the practice, but this was a desperate situation. Besides, it wasn't like the cars' owners were innocent bystanders—if they were even still alive.

Syl stood guard at the building door. Max and Krit pried the hood up just far enough for Krit to release the latch. When the hood was open, Max quickly adjusted the car's electronics to unlock the doors, and then went to work on the engine. She willed her fingers to go even faster than usual, knowing they had to get out of the garage before the fire broke into it and ignited the fuel tanks of the cars.

"Someone's coming," Syl announced suddenly in a low voice, stepping away from the door.

"Damn," Max said, reluctantly dropping the engine wires she had been working on and quietly closing the hood. She lowered her voice. "Logan, how much longer on the code?"

"A couple minutes."

"Under the car," Max said, making a decision. The three X5s dove under the SUV, leaving the sedan unlocked. They held their breaths while the door opened.

Renfro and the black-bereted soldier stepped out of the building, both coughing. Her heels clicked on the smooth concrete as she crossed the garage. He entered a code into the keypad before following her to the sedan. The garage door began to rise. The soldier headed for the driver's seat, Renfro for the rear.

As soon as the two opened their doors, the X5s rolled out from their hiding place and grabbed them by the throats.

"What do you think you're doing?" Renfro rasped, sounding calm.

"Playing chauffeur," Max snapped. Renfro reached for her gun, but Max wrenched it out of her hand. She tossed it to Syl, who unloaded it and tossed the gun and ammunition aside.

Krit disarmed the soldier in similar fashion and squeezed his neck until he lost consciousness. The keys dropped from the soldier's hand, clattering on the floor. Syl snatched them up and used them to open the trunk.

Max, meanwhile, was sorely tempted to squeeze the life out of Renfro on the spot. This was the woman who had made her life a living hell for the past three months, who had tortured her…starved her…belittled her… made her believe that she had poisoned everyone she had ever loved. This woman had killed Tinga and tried to take her son as well. She seemed to show no remorse, no more emotion than a stone, and she deserved the worst.

But no matter how great her hate for Renfro, Max refused to become the killer Manticore had always wanted her to be. She'd done so once, to the warden who had abused Maria at Langford. Even though he had been shooting at her and her friends at the time, she'd always been ashamed of it. She refused now to prove Renfro right.

"Naptime," she said roughly, and squeezed Renfro's throat just long and hard enough for Renfro to pass out.

Max carried Renfro's limp form to the rear of the car and shoved her into the trunk. She used some cords she had found in the trunk to tie Renfro's hands and ankles, making sure to double and then triple the knots. Syl removed Renfro's heeled shoes, tossed them across the garage, and stuffed her mouth with a nearby rag.

After Max used one of the scalpels in her boots to disable the interior trunk-release, Syl slammed the trunk shut.

They ran around to the doors of the sedan and jumped in the back, joining Krit and the now-unconscious soldier, who lay on the front seat. They slammed the doors shut. Krit peeled out of the garage with a loud squeal.

"We're out!" they exclaimed into their microphones with exhilaration.

"Don't forget about the snipers," Lydecker warned them.

"Should be easier in Renfro's car," Syl snorted smugly.

"Guard towers are probably empty by now, anyway," Max added, "thanks to the fire."

Sure enough, their drive was unencumbered. They drove up the long driveway from the building, turning left at the fork in the road. Max glanced out the rear window just in time to see the garage explode. It was the last building to burst into flame. The entire complex now lit up the night.

She settled back into her seat, smiling. She took a deep breath and let the happy truth wash over her. By morning, Manticore would be nothing but a cinder.

------------

"Take the driveway straight east to the gate," Lydecker was telling Krit. "We'll open it as you approach."

"Roger that," Krit said from the car.

Even though he'd been following along the whole time, Logan could hardly believe his ears. They'd made it out. In just a few minutes, he'd be seeing Max in person once again. He didn't give in to total relief, as she was still inside the compound, but he felt a lump quickly forming in his throat.

A few minutes passed. Logan found himself growing nervous. What if something went sideways before they cleared the grounds? Finally, though, Krit announced their approach to the gate. Logan pressed the button on his laptop that opened it. The sedan slipped easily through and turned left to begin the long circuit around the compound.

"Leave the gate open for the troop transport," Lydecker said. Thirty seconds later, Kalins announced that the transport vehicle had passed through the gate, and Logan closed it again.

Then he waited.

------------

Now that they were outside the gate, the X5s drove slowly, just in case reinforcements arrived. They wanted to be able to change course without leading enemies to the van. There turned out to be no problems, though, and soon the car's occupants were able to relax.

Max found herself growing more and more excited. There had been nights when she had lain awake at Manticore wondering whether Logan had moved on, finding someone else to love and forgetting her. She had wondered whether she would escape one day only to find that he had changed, or that the world had changed, and she no longer belonged in it. But right now, she wasn't worried about any of that—she was out, and it was glorious. She could take on the world.

And Logan had come for her. Just knowing that he had missed her enough to risk his own life to come and get her made the stars shine brighter in the sky. She couldn't wait to see him again.

"Can't you drive any faster?" she asked Krit, rather pointlessly.

He just looked at her, amused.

Finally, _finally_, the car pulled around a corner and Max saw the van in the distance. It was a plain, dirty white vehicle, but it could have been as beautiful as the Taj Mahal for the emotion it inspired in Max. The woman who rarely cried now felt tears welling up in her eyes and a lump in her throat at the very sight.

"Faster," she whispered.

------------

Logan saw the car before Lydecker did.

Staring at his laptop had no longer proved useful, and he hadn't been able to concentrate anyway, so he had watched through the windshield in silence. When the sedan came into view, he thought maybe he was imagining it, after staring into the distance for so long. He blinked several times before looking again. The sedan had indeed started up the long block toward the van.

As soon as he was positive, he opened the van's sliding door and transferred outside. He was vaguely aware of Lydecker stepping down behind him.

Logan wheeled a short distance in front of the van and watched as the car pulled to a stop in front of him.

In the back seat, Max scrambled over Syl to reach his side of the street and opened the door. Syl and Krit watched with smiles on their faces as she climbed out and gazed at him, her hands still on the open door frame.

She didn't see his messy hair and week-old beard, just as he didn't see her gaunt frame and stick-straight hair. Each saw only the person they'd been missing. Dark eyes searched light and found…home.

"Max," he said, with a smile.

"Logan," she said, voice breaking through her own smile, and she slammed the door shut. She ran the short distance in less than a second and dropped to her knees as she flew into his arms.

He wrapped his arms tightly around her and pressed her head to his. He couldn't believe she was back…but here she was, wrapped around him, and he was never, ever letting go.

The world around them faded. They concentrated only on each other, reunited after all this time. Max found herself crying with relief and happiness, rendering Logan's sweatshirt soggy and salty. Logan's breath tickled the back of her neck. It only served to make her laugh through her sobs.

He squeezed her hard. She was really there. The day he'd feared may never come had arrived, and they were finally together.

Max looked up, eyes still wet, and saw his eyes looking into hers. She reached up to place a hand on the side of his face. They both smiled again as their lips drew together in a kiss. They kissed briefly at first, still making sure this was really happening. After one more happy glance at each other's eyes, Max and Logan drew into the long, passionate kiss they'd each dreamed about for so long.

Together at last.

------------

Slowly, their lips eased apart, and they rested their foreheads against each other.

"I think we're being watched," Max said with a little laugh, her voice wavering. She couldn't stop stroking his cheek.

"I don't care," Logan answered in a low voice, smiling. "You're here."

"Yeah," Max smiled, sniffling. "I'm really here." She felt his hand stroking her own cheek and kissed it. He took the opportunity to guide her face toward his and caress her lips with his own.

In the distance, Syl cleared her throat.

"I guess that's our cue," Logan murmured.

"Yeah," Max answered, taking his lips once more. "We'll continue this later."

After one more kiss, Max turned her head to see Syl and Krit watching with goofy smiles on their faces.

"What?" she asked with a self-conscious smile, and wiped her eyes. Logan stroked her back as she turned to face the car.

"Nothing," Syl said, giving her hair a shake. She smiled again and rose from her perch on the hood. "Much as I hate to bring this up, we've got business to attend to."

As Syl and Krit walked toward the back of the car, Logan tore his eyes off Max long enough to glance at Lydecker. The latter was at the side of the van, rummaging in the equipment through the open door.

Logan's attention was drawn back to Max when she pulled out of his arms in order to approach the car. They immediately felt achingly empty and he had to fight the instinct to reach forward and pull her back into them.

Krit checked the front seat of the sedan while Syl and Max gathered at the open trunk. From his communications with them after they'd left the gate, Logan knew Renfro was bound inside. Max leaned down to tell her something. From this distance, Logan couldn't make it out, but from the look on Max's face he could tell it wasn't nice.

He approached the car himself, stopping just shy of the trunk so as to remain out of view. Lydecker, who had noticed the gathering at the car and come to investigate, stepped fully into Renfro's line of sight.

"Deck," she said around her gag. Lydecker looked at her for a moment, then removed it.

"Get me out and I'll bring you in from the cold with the Committee," she said, smooth as ever.

Max sneered at her. "I don't think you're in much of a position to make promises."

"Max is right," Lydecker said simply. He withdrew his pistol from his jacket pocket and fired one shot.

Blood oozed from the hole between Renfro's eyes and dripped onto the clean trunk floor. Max and the others stared in stunned silence.

He said nothing as he turned to walk toward the front of the car. A moment later, the black-bereted soldier was dead as well.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Max demanded, finding her tongue.

"He knew too much," Lydecker said, walking back to the van.

Max was about to demand that he answer in regards to Renfro, which was how she had originally meant the question. She closed her mouth when she realized she didn't really need to ask.

Syl, still a little shocked, closed the trunk.

The large troop transport vehicle pulled to a stop nearby. Kalins jumped out of the cab and saluted.

"That's my ride," Lydecker said, slinging a small duffel bag over his shoulder and closing the driver's-side door of the van. The group stared at him as he stepped toward them. He stopped to look each one of them in the eyes.

"I'm proud of you," he said with a nod.

They watched him turn and walk around to the passenger side of the transport vehicle. He nodded at Kalins, who saluted again before re-entering the cab. When they were settled, Kalins put the truck into gear and slowly drove away.

"Gee, thanks," Max muttered, staring after it.

Logan reached for her hand and kissed it. "Let's go home."


	20. Chapter 20

_A/N: Here it is—the final chapter! I first posted this story three years ago(!) after a chat conversation about a theory posted on a message board. Moonshadow, if you're reading this, I hope you've enjoyed the idea you sparked. :) My original intention with this fic was to write an ending to the second season, which I didn't like, that would allow for a great third season. Obviously Fox was not on my wavelength, but I've enjoyed writing this story anyway—especially the last few chapters. It was a fun challenge to set up potential episodes while giving the characters the happy ending they deserved._

_Thanks to Alaidh and Kasman for betaing. Thanks also goes to my chat friends who have entertained me, helped me brainstorm when I was stuck, and provided their own expertise. Finally, many thanks to all who have been reading. Whether you read just a paragraph here and there or every word of every chapter, I'm honored._

_Enjoy!_

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Home," Max repeated softly. It felt strange to think about. She'd concentrated so much in the past few hours on getting out of captivity that she'd barely had time to think past her escape. Now she was free, Manticore was burning—for real this time—and Logan was with her. She was done. At long last, she could go home.

Suddenly she couldn't wait. She looked at Logan, eyes shining, and squeezed his hand. "Let's get out of here," she said, breaking into a wide smile.

He returned it, happy beyond belief to have her nearby and free. He resisted the urge to envelop her in another passionate kiss. There would be plenty of time for that on the drive back to Seattle, and the sooner they got away from the site of Max's former prison, the better. He settled for squeezing her hand again and giving it a brief kiss before letting it go to turn around.

"I'll drive," said Syl behind them. Max turned to look at Krit and Syl, having momentarily forgotten they were there. Both of them were smiling. She rushed over to them and gave each one a tight, longed-for hug.

"Thank you," Max said to each.

"Glad to have you back, baby sister," Syl said.

"You really think we'd leave you in there?" Krit asked, making a feeble attempt at a joke to ward off the emotion of the moment.

Max shook her head, suddenly not trusting her voice. She finished the hugs and led Krit and Syl to the van, catching up to Logan almost immediately. She threw her arms around him from behind and squeezed him tightly. She managed to whisper in his ear, "Thank you."

He stopped and raised his hands to her arm, just below his neck, returning the squeeze. "You're welcome, Max."

She came around to reach his lips and kissed him. _So much for waiting,_ he thought happily as he closed his eyes and returned the kiss. God, it was so good to feel her lips on his again…

Krit cleared his throat. "Ready and waiting, guys." They looked up at him. He was leaning on the open sliding door of the van, looking impatient. Syl was climbing into the driver's seat.

Max and Logan looked at each other with feigned exasperation and reluctantly separated. He gestured for her to enter the van first. While he worked on transferring in, she chose a seat and set about removing her boots and socks.

"Ahhh," she sighed happily when they were off. She'd had them on for 48 hours straight. She was tempted to chuck them out the window, as a symbol of the torture she'd been put through, but she wouldn't want to go into a rest stop or restaurant in bare feet. Besides, who knew what Seattle's weather would be like when they arrived? She settled for wiggling her toes to give them air.

Logan glanced at her, amused. "Comfortable?"

"Very," she grinned. "Come closer and I'll be even more comfortable…"

"Are we gonna have to hose you two down?" Krit asked just before he slid the door closed and climbed into the front seat.

Max rolled her eyes and leaned contentedly on Logan once he was settled next to her. As much as she loved him, she didn't want to make out with him right now. She just wanted to be with him…feel him…know that he was near. She wouldn't have admitted that a year ago, not even to herself. But things were different now.

Beside her, Logan was thinking the same thing. A year ago he'd closed himself off, and it had only been a waste of time. He was happy to put his arm around her now and breathe in her scent. He resolved never to take that for granted.

Syl picked up the key that had been lying on the dash, inserted it into the ignition, and turned it. The engine came to life. She put the van in gear and pulled onto the isolated wilderness road. "Say goodbye to Manticore," she said with great satisfaction.

"Good riddance," said everyone else at the same time. They grinned at each other as the van turned a corner and the burning complex disappeared from view.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

An hour later, the group made a much-needed pit stop. They took advantage of an all-night fast-food restaurant, using the restrooms and ordering some food to go. As soon as they piled back into the van, Max began wolfing down her meal.

"Got enough fries, Max?" Krit asked with amusement. Her order was large, even for an X5 with revved-up metabolism.

"I haven't eaten in two days," she answered. "I don't even care that it's junk."

Logan, who had barely even thought of food during the past 24 hours, now realized his own mouth was watering. He reached for the fries. "We get back, I'll make you a good breakfast." He glanced at his watch. "Or lunch."

"God, that'll be great," Max sighed. "I really missed your cooking."

Syl nodded, glancing at her in the rear-view mirror. "Three months on bland Manticore grub…"

"Yeah," Max agreed, but she exchanged a look with Logan to let him know it wasn't just the food itself she had missed. She'd missed the effort he put into it, the love with which he prepared it…his company while they shared it.

He got the message and smiled. He was looking forward to cooking for her again.

Eventually the van reached the highway, and its occupants settled into the rhythmic movement. Syl talked with Krit quietly in the front seat. Logan felt his eyelids drooping. The tension and adrenaline from the past few days were gone, replaced by relief and a full stomach. Together with the long night, they proved to be a powerful combination. He fought to stay awake. He didn't want to miss a moment with Max.

A pothole in the pitted road jolted his eyes open long enough for him to glance over at her. To his surprise—he knew she needed very little sleep—she seemed to be nodding off as well.

"Tired?" he asked quietly.

"I haven't slept in a week," she murmured, snuggling closer to him. "You make a good pillow."

"Good," he said, finally allowing his own eyes to close. "We can sleep together, then."

They were both so tired that they only smiled at the inadvertent double entendre before drifting off to sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

A few hours later, Logan pulled out his cell phone. "Original Cindy's been waiting for a phone call."

"Who?" Syl and Krit asked simultaneously with some consternation. Years of hiding their origins for fear of betrayal or incidental casualties made them suspicious now, much like Zack had been when he'd found out Logan knew.

"Friend of mine," Max answered. "Don't worry, she's cool." She turned back to Logan. "You told her about the mission? You told her about Eyes Only?"

"No," Logan said, smiling a little bit at Max's concern for his and Original Cindy's safety. "I told her I was going out of town with Lydecker to get some information. She made me promise to call when I was done and let her know I was okay. There was arm-twisting involved."

"Since when are you two all buddy-buddy?" This was definitely new. Logan and Original Cindy had never been particularly close. Max was glad they were friends now, but she couldn't help feeling a little bit squeezed out.

"Misery loves company," he explained simply, looking into her eyes. Immediately she realized they had become closer out of grief. She felt bad about causing them such pain.

_You destroy everyone that you love..._

_Stop it!_

Max shook her head. She wasn't going to let the memory of Renfro's psychological assault mess her up. Those awful events that had nearly broken her hadn't been real at all, and it wasn't her fault that Manticore had taken her away from Logan and Original Cindy. She didn't have to feel guilty.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," she said quietly. She cast her eyes downward, as if overcome by emotion and memory. "I…I was miserable, too. I missed you…"

When she didn't continue, he cupped her cheek and soothed, "It's all over now."

"Yeah," she said, closing her eyes.

Logan, not for the first time, wondered what Max had been through during her captivity. Had she been tortured? Brainwashed? She certainly had been unresponsive when he'd first contacted her in her cell. She seemed to be herself now, and he was happy about that, but he wondered what scars her experience would leave. He hoped someday she would be able to tell him about her time there.

In return, when she was ready, he would tell her what that time had been like for him. At first, it had been like a light had gone out. He'd sat on the couch in shock for days. Time had passed and he'd learned how to function without her, not knowing whether she was dead or alive, but he knew he hadn't been the same person. Original Cindy had told him as much one day.

Now that Max was back, he felt like himself again. He wasn't the old Logan, though, the one who'd been so busy refusing to accept his future that he let the present slip away. Now he knew what really mattered.

Original Cindy would be proud of him. _Speaking of whom_..."I think I'd better make that phone call," he said, reluctantly letting go of Max's cheek.

Her eyes opened. A mischievous grin slowly spread across her face. "I have a better idea. Let me surprise her." When Logan handed her his phone, she shook her head. "In person, I mean."

"You sure? She did threaten to kick my ass if I didn't call…"

"It's the way I've been imagining it all this time," Max told him. "I sneak in, surprise her, give her a heart attack…"

Logan smiled. He could picture her roommate's reaction.

"So you've imagined your return…" He had imagined Max's return many times, when he had dared to hope, but for some reason it had never occurred to him that she might be doing the same thing. "How did you imagine it with me?"

"I'll tell you later," she said, a soft smile on her lips. She laid her head on his shoulder. Logan rested his chin comfortably on the top of her head. The van followed a bend in the road, and he found himself gazing out the window at the rising sun.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

At a rest station just off the highway, hundreds of miles away, Lydecker dialed his cell phone to make a secure call. He stood in a pay phone shelter. The troop transport vehicle waited in the parking lot on the other side of the building, out of earshot.

As the phone rang, he subconsciously patted the watch pocket of his jeans to make sure that two tiny disks were still there. He now carried them on his person at all times. The first contained the audio surveillance from the pen he'd slipped Sandoval months ago, along with the original mission instructions from the hoverdrone that had nearly killed him. The second disk was a recent acquisition; it came from the briefcase he'd retrieved from the sedan's back seat after shooting Renfro.

The line on the other end picked up. A man Lydecker had tracked down four weeks ago greeted him. "Congratulations."

"Did you play the file?" Lydecker asked. He had sent the man copies of both files soon after first making contact with him. They had decided to hold the evidence until Eyes Only could expose Manticore and bring about its corrupt director's downfall. Now Lydecker was about to find out whether the decision had been correct.

The man on the other end responded, "I did. As soon as the soldiers began escaping."

"And?"

"And they didn't believe it at first. Since Renfro had them convinced you murdered Sandoval, they assumed you'd doctored the audio file. But as soon as I showed them the hoverdrone's original instruction file, they came around," the man said with satisfaction. "They know it was self-defense. You're no longer a wanted man."

Lydecker had hardened himself quite a bit over the years. War experiences, and then his work training soldiers, had given him thick skin and a grim confidence in his ability to accomplish objectives. Even so, he felt enormous relief at hearing from someone he trusted that he'd been crossed off the elimination list. "Think they'll believe us when we tell them she was killing X5s?"

"Renfro's failure to eliminate Eyes Only and secure Manticore already guaranteed she wouldn't be taking a top spot at Gemini. Your files have convinced them she's had more up her sleeve than she let on. I think they'll be very interested in hearing the truth."

"I appreciate your going to bat for me," Lydecker said. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and back again. "It's a shame you had to take medical leave. If she hadn't taken your place as Director, we wouldn't have had to destroy Manticore."

The man on the other end remained silent for a moment. "You're sure no one in the basement survived..."

"Positive. All of the anomalies were eliminated."

"I left one down there once," the other man mused, "shortly after I joined the project, long before you came in. Before we set up at Gillette, even. Total mistake. The genetics came out all wrong."

Thinking of the X2s he had trained and watched self-destruct, Lydecker muttered, "Not the only time that's happened."

"It was obvious at birth—the defects manifested physically, rather than psychologically like they eventually did in the X2s. I was young and softhearted. Couldn't bear to put him down. I thought hiding him in the basement would be for the best."

"If you hide a mistake in an experiment, the mistake will get repeated." The same went for missions. Debriefings were more accurate and punishments less frequent once the kids learned that lesson.

The other man confirmed the assertion. "The other X3s came out severely defective. We put the ones who survived in the basement for observation." The man paused. "I haven't seen that one, or any of them, since I left Seattle to direct the Gillette facility in '04."

"The point is moot," Lydecker said. All were dead now.

"Indeed."

The man on the other end of the line seemed to gather himself and focus once more on the task at hand. "Bring the soldiers here. Let the Committee debrief you. Considering Renfro's corruption and failure, and your general record at Manticore, I'm sure they'll agree with me that you should continue training soldiers at Gemini."

"I'll be there," Lydecker told General Sandeman. He hung up the phone, tucked it into his pocket, and rejoined Kalins in the cab of the transport vehicle.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Max watched with rapt attention as the van drove into Seattle, looking through the windows with a wonder Logan was amazed to see. After her three months in isolation, and the prospect of never seeing it again, the broken-down city looked like paradise to her. She supposed soon enough she would be rolling her eyes again and cursing the unavailability of everyday necessities, but in the meantime she was happy to see sector cops and street thugs. It meant she was home.

Krit got out and opened the door to the storage facility where the trip had begun. Logan was relieved to see his Aztek still parked safely inside. The facility was on the edge of town, and nobody had been around when he'd parked there, but he'd still been nervous leaving the car unattended so long with no way to lock the storage room's door. He pulled out his keys and aimed the remote control through the van's window to unlock his car.

Syl disembarked immediately after parking the van. "Ahhh," she breathed, stretching. "Feels good to get out and walk around. I hate long car rides." Max edged past Logan to open the side door and jump out as well. The three X5s began to unload the van while Logan transferred out.

"Why'd you bring this along if you weren't gonna use it?" Max asked him, lifting the exoskeleton out of the van.

"I did. Ended up having to use a part for something else, though," he answered. He nodded at the satellite dish Syl was plucking from the roof. "It's fixable." In another lifetime, he would have wanted to fix it as soon as possible. Today he didn't care. He'd rather spend that time with Max.

She shrugged and put it in the back of the Aztek.

When they were done, Krit announced that he and Syl would be splitting up and leaving town after returning the van.

"Why?" Max asked, disappointed. She'd been hoping they would stick around for a while. "I just got out of Manticore. I've only seen you twice in eleven years. Why are you going to leave?"

"Lydecker's not the only one who's had a hit out on me," Krit answered, "and I'm not so sure _he's_ done looking, either. We told you about Gemini."

Syl nodded. "He helped us get you out…but Lydecker's Lydecker. Who knows what he's got in mind."

"It's better for us all to stay apart. At least for a while," Krit added.

At his words, Max flashed back to the night she'd met Zack for the first time since the escape.

_"We can't stay together, Max," Zack had told her at the rail yard that night. "It'll compromise everyone's safety." Despite her protests, he'd turned around and walked away without so much as a backward glance._

"Don't tell me you guys agree with Zack," she said now, smiling weakly.

Syl grinned. "Not entirely. I, for one, plan on staying in contact. Logan's got the number." She glanced at him to confirm that he still had it. He nodded.

"We'll come and see you later, Max. Get your life back first," Krit added.

Still disappointed, but relieved that her siblings wanted to keep in touch, Max smiled for real. She drew them each into a goodbye hug. "Okay. As long as you promise…"

"Promise," they told her with a smile.

"Thanks for coming to help," Logan told them as well. "It meant a lot to me."

"Glad to," Krit told him. He reached over to shake Logan's hand. He was happy to note that Logan was already looking much better than he had the day before. "Take care of Max, okay?"

Logan nodded his agreement, glancing at Max and smiling. She returned his smile.

Syl and Krit climbed back in the van and started it up. They waved goodbye and drove slowly out of the storage room. Soon they were out of sight.

Max watched them go, sighing. Her eyes remained fixed on the exit long after the van had left. "I'm gonna miss them, Logan."

"You'll see 'em again," he reassured her, reaching for her hand.

"I know."

In the silent moment that followed, Logan wondered what Max's next plan was. Did she want to go straight home, or would she want to come over to his place? He'd like nothing more than to take her back to his apartment and make up for lost time, but he supposed Max should make that decision. She was the one who had just been set free.

"Come on," he said, giving her hand a little tug to break her gaze, "I'll take you home. Original Cindy will be glad to see you."

"Mind if I come over afterwards?" Max asked with a smile, looking down at him. "I need a hot shower like nobody's business. And there is that gourmet meal you promised me…"

Logan grinned. "Anything you want, Max."

"Anything? Hmmm," she said thoughtfully, with a mischievous look on her face. "I'll have to bear that offer in mind."

"There's no expiration date on it," he answered, pulling her down for another passionate kiss.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Here we are," Logan announced as he parked the Aztek outside Max's apartment building. It was about two in the afternoon. Before they'd left the warehouse, he'd called Jam Pony and given Normal a phony reason for Original Cindy to stop home for a while. By now enough time had passed that she would be upstairs, waiting.

Max didn't respond. She was staring out the window at the building.

"Max?" he asked a moment later. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she answered, glancing at him before turning back to look out the window. "I just...didn't realize how much I missed it." After another moment, she murmured, "Kinda feels funny to come back to it."

"Nothing's changed in there," he told her, guessing correctly what Max had been wondering.

She smiled at him. "Spend a lot of time there this summer?"

"Enough."

"Come up with me," she said suddenly.

Logan was surprised. He'd thought she wanted him to drop her off. "You sure?"

"She'll have to get back to work before long, and I really do need a shower, so you might as well wait. And..." Max looked up at the building as she spoke. It took her a minute to finish her thought, not quite sure it should be voiced. Her self-protective instinct fought her better judgment before finally losing. "...I just...don't want to be alone."

She didn't quite dare turn away from the window and look at Logan. She'd hoped she could be strong when she returned to life as usual, and for the most part she was succeeding, but the truth was the thought of being completely on her own terrified her. She knew she'd get over it eventually. She just hated to admit to it in the meantime.

"Hey," Logan said, putting a finger under Max's chin and turning her head toward him. Her eyes followed. "You've been through a lot. It's okay to want company." His voice softened to a whisper, his thumb stroking her jawline. "I learned that."

For the first time—and she felt guilty about it later—Max was glad Logan had gone through so much hardship in his life. He really did know how it felt, and he knew exactly what she needed to hear.

"Thanks," she whispered.

They kept eye contact for a moment longer before getting out of the car.

The ride upstairs was quiet at first. Soon, though, Max became excited about seeing Original Cindy again. By the time the freight elevator reached her floor, she was grinning in anticipation. She quickly pushed aside the gate that separated the car from the hallway and jogged down to her door.

Logan turned on the speed to keep up with her. He didn't want to miss this.

When he pulled up behind her, Max was turning the doorknob extremely slowly to avoid making a sound. She opened the door just a crack and peered into the apartment. Original Cindy stood at the end of the kitchen counter island, sipping a cup of coffee, her back to the door. Max exchanged mischievous smiles with Logan before silently opening the door and sneaking inside. He stayed where he was, not schooled as Max was in the art of soundless travel and not sure he could pull it off even if he had been. Instead he sat back to enjoy the show.

Max stepped lightly, holding her breath, until she was just behind her roommate. She watched Original Cindy take a sip of coffee. Just as the mug met her lips, Max said, "Got any of that for me?"

Coffee sprayed from Original Cindy's mouth in a hot mist. She whirled around, coffee sloshing over the side of the mug. Her eyes widened when she saw Max standing there, grinning from ear to ear.

"Max!" she cried, putting the coffee down and pulling Max into a giant bear hug. "Oh, my God!"

"I'm glad to see you, too," Max said happily, squeezing back.

Original Cindy held her at arm's length to look at her. "I can't believe it!" she exclaimed. "It's really you!"

"I take it you missed me?"

"Oh, shugga, you have _no_ idea," she said, pulling Max into an embrace once again. "I'm so glad you're back."

As the hug ended, Original Cindy caught sight of Logan sitting in the doorway, grinning widely. "You!" she exclaimed in mock indignation. "You set me up!"

"Guilty as charged," he said. The grin didn't leave his face as he came in and closed the door. "I just wish I had a camera."

"Well, Original Cindy doesn't care," she announced, breaking into another smile. "Max is alive and she is here. What could be better than that?"

"A little joe wouldn't hurt," Max grinned.

"Sit down. Let me get you a cup and you tell me all about it."

"I'll tell you later, okay?" Max said gently, remaining standing. "I don't really wanna go into it right now. You gotta get back to work soon and I gotta get a hot shower."

At that, Original Cindy looked up from the coffee she was pouring. She glanced from Max to Logan and back again, and raised her eyebrows. "Okay with me. I bet it's just what you need," she said in her usual Max-is-hot-for-Logan voice.

"Calm down," Max said, rolling her eyes at her friend's teasing tone. She no longer denied the attraction, but she didn't want Logan to think she was ready for a shower duet, either. "Just don't tell the peeps at Jam Pony yet. I wanna surprise 'em."

"I'm gonna go back to work burstin' at the seams. But it'll be worth it." Original Cindy handed Max her coffee. "Glad to have you back, boo."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

An hour later, Max stood in Logan's shower and let the hot water pour over her.

It was pure bliss. For months, all her showers had been cold, quick, and supervised; now she stood in her own warm cocoon. It felt so good to lean into the spray and feel it wash Manticore away. For minutes on end she stood there without thinking, simply relaxing into the water and letting it soothe her body and mind.

Once she was clean, she turned off the water and dried off with one of Logan's thick, soft towels. She wrapped herself in it and examined her reflection in the mirror. Her wet hair hung down almost to the small of her back, stick-straight and heavy. The large towel emphasized her thin frame; she could practically see her bones through her skin. Original Cindy, after getting over the shock of seeing Max again, had commented on her appearance and resolved to restore her to her natural state.

_I wonder if she'd kill me if I took a pair of scissors right now and got rid of a few inches,_ Max mused. She decided Original Cindy would indeed beat on her. The thought made her smile.

She left the hair-shortening for another day and turned to the clothes folded neatly on the counter. Logan hadn't said anything about them; he'd merely left them there for her to find. She picked them up and recognized them as an outfit she'd worn after an Eyes Only mission many months ago. _So that's where I left that shirt!_ she thought, pulling it over her head.

She fingered the hem for a moment, touched that Logan had kept these clothes for her all this time. Had he always known she'd be back? Or had he kept them as a memento because he'd thought her dead? She'd never been the sentimental type—except maybe compared to Zack—but she knew now that if the shoe had been on the other foot, she would have kept anything Logan had left her.

Her stomach growled, pulling Max out of her thoughts. Quickly she pulled on her jeans and socks, combed her hair, and padded out into the kitchen. It smelled wonderful.

Logan sat at the stove, putting the finishing touches on a hearty stew he had thawed out the previous day. When he heard her approach, he smiled and turned his head to look at her. His eyes widened. She could tell he skipped a breath. She blushed a bit.

"I didn't know if you'd ever walk into the room again," he said quietly, explaining his reaction. "I feel like I'm seeing things."

"I could make it a little more real for you," she smiled. She made good on her offer by planting a kiss on his lips. He accepted eagerly.

It felt strange just coming out and kissing Logan like that, after denying her love for so long. But recent experience had taught Max to take nothing for granted. She had a funny feeling Logan had learned the same thing.

"Almost done?" she asked when they were finished, nodding at the thick stew bubbling in the saucepan. "I'm starved."

"Yep. I was just waiting for you to get out of the shower before dishing it up."

She took the bowls he handed her and carried them to the table, where red wine and crusty garlic bread awaited. He followed and took his place across from her.

The meal passed in comfortable silence. Logan was content to watch Max, happy that she once again occupied the seat that had been empty for so long. She ate slowly, savoring every bite. For once he finished before she did.

"That was great, Logan. Thank you," she said sincerely when she was done.

"My pleasure."

He reached across the table and took her hand, playing with her fingers. For a moment their hands engaged in a dance, fingers stroking and winding around each other. He lifted his eyes to hers. She stood up and leaned across the table to whisper in his ear.

"Meet me on the couch," she said.

He gladly left the dishes on the table and followed her to the living room. Sunshine streamed through the windows, motes drifting in the warm light, as Max waited for him to transfer. When he was settled, she straddled his lap to face him and greedily pulled his lips to hers. He responded in kind.

Soon their kiss grew more passionate. Fingers explored faces, hair, and shoulders as breathing grew ragged.

When their lips parted, Logan asked huskily, "Do you...want to..."

"I do. But not yet," Max answered, stroking his jawline as they touched foreheads. As many times as she'd dreamed of making love to him, the prospect of doing it right now was too overwhelming. She'd been through a lot in recent days and had only just escaped Manticore hours earlier. She'd have to get her head on straight first—reestablish her own identity before she entwined it so intimately with another.

"I don't think I'm ready," she admitted.

"Okay." He nodded, as if he'd been expecting that answer even while hoping for a different one. "You'll...you'll let me know, though, right?"

"Oh, yeah," she grinned, and confirmed it with a sweet kiss. After that, she stood up from his lap and sat on the couch, curling up next to him. He drew her closer with an arm around her shoulders.

"So Original Cindy said you've been having lunch together once a week," she said.

"Yep."

"I'm glad. You needed to get out more," she grinned, only half kidding.

"For the moment, I think I'll stay right here," Logan said, taking a lock of her hair and playing with it. He curled it around one finger.

"Mmm," she murmured. "Me too."

Time passed. It went by largely in silence as they enjoyed simply being in each other's company. Max wondered, not for the first time, why she'd kept Logan at arm's length for so long. He'd broken through her defenses, and she'd come to trust him like nobody she'd ever known—but even when she'd finally figured out what she felt for him, she'd hesitated. If only she'd known what she was missing!

_That's over now,_ she thought happily. _We're here, and I don't have to be afraid anymore._

She reached up and brushed Logan with a kiss.

"Mmm. What was that for?" he asked, smiling.

"Just because I felt like it."

He kissed her back. His kiss was seeking, ravenous, as though he was satisfying a craving. She returned it eagerly. When they were done, she grinned. "I think I can guess what _you_ feel like."

"Am I that obvious?" The look on Logan's face was mischievous.

"No, actually, you're one of the most inscrutable people I've ever met." Max gazed thoughtfully into space as she spoke. "It took me a while to figure you out. I'd never met anyone like you."

He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "I could say the same about you. It's like you opened up a whole new world to me." He paused before continuing, recognizing that this was one more thing he never would have had the courage to vocalize before she'd been taken from him. "I...I wasn't sure I'd ever fit into that world."

"Of course you do," she said with a grin and just a hint of sass. "You belong there. I wouldn't have it any other way."

She laid her head on his shoulder and rested one palm on his chest.

"I'm glad you're back, Max," Logan told her, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. "Welcome home."

She sighed happily.

_It's been a long few months. There were a lot of days when I thought nothing would ever be right again. But __Logan__ stuck with me, and got me out. So here we are. I'm back in __Seattle__, just where I want to be._

_It's all good._


End file.
